Doncaster Knights 18 Yorkshire Carnegie 20

Yorkshire Carnegie completed successive wins over Doncaster Knights with a hard-fought 20-18 victory in the Championship Cup at Castle Park.
Clive Griffiths's Doncaster host Chris Stirling's Yorkshire Carnegie today.Clive Griffiths's Doncaster host Chris Stirling's Yorkshire Carnegie today.
Clive Griffiths's Doncaster host Chris Stirling's Yorkshire Carnegie today.

Carnegie had three players sin-binned in last week’s 33-20 win and the return produced six yellow cards.

There was one sin-binning in the first half and five after the break and late in the game it was Doncaster’s 12 men against 13 for Yorkshire.

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Saturday’s game was more evenly contested than the first encounter and this time Carnegie had to fight back, having led 33-3 at one stage a week earlier.

The home team led from the second minute when Kurt Morath landed a long-range penalty.

He missed with a similar effort midway through the opening period, but Carnegie were penalised again almost immediately and Will Owen went over off Benjamin Hunter’s pass following the lineout, Morath adding the extras.

Five minutes later a driven maul led to a try for Yorkshire’s Dylan Donnellan which Jacob Umaga converted and Morath and Umaga exchanged penalties before Oliver Stedman’s 40th minute touchdown, which was unconverted, made it 18-10.

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Stedman was impressive for the hosts in his first game since returning to the club from Ealing Trailfinders.

He went over from a lineout after Faatiga Lemalu had been banished for deliberate offside.

Carnegie received a spate of penalties at the start of the second half and Umaga pulled three points back just before Lemalu’s return.

Seconds earlier Carnegie had kicked for touch from a penalty in front of the posts and their adventure almost paid off, but Chris Elder was kept out by Morath’s fine tackle.

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Knights’ Josh Tyrell went into the sin-bin, for a similar offence to Lemalu, with 15 minutes remaining and tempers began to fray with Doncaster’s Curtis Wilson and oppponent Jade Tu Rure following after a skirmish moments later.

That led to a Carnegie penalty and Donnellan went over for an identical try to his first half score, Umaga’s goal edging the visitors ahead and proving the difference at the final whistle.

Carnegie substitute Sam Nixon and Doncaster’s Robin Hislop joined the increasing number of players on the sidelines with five minutes left and Doncaster wasted a late opportunity when they lost their own lineout close to the visitors’ line deep into stoppage time.