BetFred League 1 – 6 June 2021
Doncaster 46 London Skolars 12
Hopes were high when Skolars were in the lead for most of the first half, but they were hit a eight unsanwered tries as Doncaster demonstrated why they are one of the sides near the top of the league this season
After preventing an early try by holding Brad Foster up over the tryline, Skolars took the lead when Richard Wilkinson broke from halfway before passing to Varela, then collecting the pass back to score against his old club, with Neil Thorman converting.
Skolars defence held strong again when Greg Johnson, dislodged the ball from Jason Tali’s grasp close to the line. Christian Gale, James Tyas and Will Blakemore were making good yards with each run, and after Tyas went close, Oli Leyland forced a goal-line drop-out with Lameck Juma crashing over, Neil Thorman converting to put the visitors further ahead.
Wilkinson had to leave the field after sustaining an injury and as Skolars re-organised, Doncaster seized the opportunity to get on the scoreboard.
A break on the right by Doncaster saw Tom Halliday bundled into touch by Error Carter, but two penalties in quick succession saw the pressure tell. Misi Taulapapa stepped from side to side ten metres out before finding a small gap before offloading to Jason Tali to go in on the left on his 100th appearance for the Dons.
They levelled the scores six minutes before the break when Ben Johnson broke through the middle from halfway before releasing Matty Beharrell to the line.
Skolars had a chance to regain the lead early in the second half but Kam Pearce-Paul’s pass was too high for Greg Johnson to collect. A late shot on Beharrell saw the Dons get a penalty 20 metres out and when Beharrell was stopped short of the line, he was just able to offload as he went down, Liam Johnson taking the pass to put his side in the lead.
Another late shot on Beharrell saw Doncaster take a tap penalty and a short pass from Ben Johnson saw Danny Bravo touchdown.
Skolars tried to put pressure on the Don’s defence and saw a set end with Taulapapa taking the ball on his own tryline, A short pass found a gap that saw his side advance to halfway and with Skolars on the backfoot, Oilver Greensmith finished off in the left corner.
Ben Johnson helped extend the lead four minutes later setting up Halliday who made the decisive pass back inside to Smeaton.
The Dons enjoyed a large spell of possession, with Skolars’ defence desperately trying to prevent another try. However, Beharrell rounded the game off, ducking under the tacklers to go in under the posts, before adding his seventh conversion of the afternoon.
DONCASTER
28 Misi Taulapapa
18 Tom Halliday
3 Sam Smeaton
4 Jason Tali
32 Oliver Greensmith
1 Ben Johnson
7 Matty Beharrell,
29 Anesu Mudoti
24 Watson Boas
15 Ryan Boyle
23 Liam Johnson
11 Danny Bravo
12 Brad Foster
Subs (all used)
16 Brandan Wilkinson
17 Ross Peltier
22 Alex Holdstock
26 Ross Whitmore
Tries: Tali (29), Beharrell (34,78), L Johnson (45), Bravo (51), Greensmith (56), Smeaton (60), B Johnson (69)
Goals: Beharrell 7/8
LONDON SKOLARS
1 Richard Wilkinson
2 Greg Johnson
3 Jonah Varela
4 Kam Pearce-Paul
25 Error Carter
6 Oli Leyland
7 Mike Bishay
8 Christian Gale
9 Neil Thorman
10 James Tyas
12 Mike Greenhalgh
11 Lameck Juma
13 Will Blakemore
Subs (all used)
14 Tom Firth
15 Malikhi Lloyd-Jones
21 Judd Greenhalgh
22 Eddie Mbaraga
Tries: Wilkinson (8), Juma (23)
Goals: Thorman 2/2
Penalty count: 8-5
Half-time: 12-12
Referee: John McMulen
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 6-12, 12-12; 18-12, 22-12, 28-12, 34-12, 40-12, 46-
