Doncaster Knights 23 Nottingham 25: Olver fails to continue accuracy as Knights stumble

Sam Olver missed a kick to win the game in time added on as Doncaster Knights suffered a second successive Championship defeat.
Doncaster's Sam Olver was 100% accurate right up until the very end (Picture: Marie Caley)Doncaster's Sam Olver was 100% accurate right up until the very end (Picture: Marie Caley)
Doncaster's Sam Olver was 100% accurate right up until the very end (Picture: Marie Caley)

The on-loan scrum-half, who had been 100 per cent accurate prior to the final kick, had the chance to secure Knights a fourth win in five games since the turn of the year but pulled his angled injury-time penalty agonisingly wide of the far post, as Nottingham claimed their first win of 2019.

Nottingham looked to be heading for a more emphatic victory when leading 17-6 at the interval.

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But Knights produced a spirited response after the break and in the final analysis, despite the fact their performance fell short of others this year, will be disappointed to have banked only a losing bonus point, one that neverthless sees them climb a place up to ninth.

The home side opened the scoring with an easy penalty by Olver, which was cancelled out by his opposite number Shane O’Leary.

Alex Goble and Jordan Coghlan put Nottingham in command, with Olver cutting the deficit to 17-6 and Tyson Lewis rounding off some snappy handling to touch down in the corner for his first try of the season. Nottingham hit back with close-range effort by David Williams to lead 22-13.

Paul Jarvis capped an impressive return from injury when he cut inside past several defenders after the ball had been moved down the line and somehow managed to touch down.

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Olver added the extras and also kicked a penalty to edge his side into a late 23-22 lead following an incident which led to Notts hooker Luke Cole being sin-binned.

O’Leary then had the chance to kick Nottingham back into the lead before another opportunity presented itself to Olver, only for his kick to win the match to sail wide.

Doncaster Knights: McColl (Foley 49), Jarvis, Creed, Hayes, Lewis, Olver; James, Hislop (List 68), Mayhew (Malcolm 66), Quigley (Sproston 64), Challinor (Jones 64), Hicks, Tyrell, Calladine, Stedman. Unused replacements: Ryan, Polataivao.

Nottingham: Lyons, Williams, Millett, Peters, Goble, O’Leary, McConnell; Jack, Cole, Heffernan, Holmes, Lewis, Buckley, Coghlan, Poullet. Replacements: 1 Farnworth, Hills, MacCarthy, Cardall , Cox, Veenendaal, Branco.