Doncaster 20 Whitehaven 18: Morrison leaves it late to snatch winning score for Doncaster

Both teams deserve full marks for defence and for a long time it looked as if Whitehaven might prevail after leading for over an hour of the match.

But Doncaster’s indomitable spirit shone through at the finish as they continued to battle to overturn an 18-10 deficit.

The result left the revitalised home team in joint second place on points and gives them a great chance of clinching the runners-up spot outright.

Doncaster struck first in the ninth minute with a splendid try from Mike Coady who produced a great catch from Craig Fawcett’s lofted kick on the last tackle to touch down.

Haven hit back to snatch the lead in the 20th minute and always had their noses in front after that until Morrison’s late stunner.

Speedy winger Loz Hamzat raced through twice with Lewis Palfrey on target each time to make it 12-4 at the interval.

But it was not a true reflection of the balance of play and the Dons hit back three minutes into the second half with an opportunist try from Kyle Kesik.

It looked as if Whitehaven had done enough when prop forward Luke Isakka powered his way over the line in the 63rd minute with Palfrey goaling again.

But the battling Dons were not finished and underlined their never say die attitude when Fawcett went through under the posts six minutes from time before Morrison set the seal on a real thriller.

Doncaster: Butterfield, Sanderson, Morrison, Spurr, Coady, Spaven, Fawcett, Scott, P Hughes, Crawley, Robinson, Edwards, C Hughes. Substitutes: Kesik, Dee, Carbutt, Sampson.

Whitehaven: Benson, Hamzat, Wiper, McAvoy, Calvert, Palfrey, Gerrard, Cullnen, Smith, Isakka, Miller, Doran, Beattie. Substitutes: Sice, Hill, Farrer, King.

Referee: R Laughton (RFL).