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REPORT - South Wales Scorpions 22 Doncaster 8

Sunday 8th August 2010

South Wales Scorpions just need a bonus point against York City Knights at The Gnoll next Sunday to qualify for the play-offs in the very first season.

The match kicks off at 1pm and the Scorpions are holding an end of season family day to celebrate their final home game of their inaugural campaign.

The Welsh side beat Doncaster 22-8 at The Gnoll this Sunday afternoon for their ninth win of the season.

"We set ourselves a target at the start of the year of getting five wins and we've won nine now," said Scorpions coach Anthony Seibold. "We've given ourselves a massive shot in the arm for our play-off chances today. We got a result today and we'll look for the same next Sunday against York City Knights here at The Gnoll. It's all in our own hands.

"It wasn't our best performance of the year but we got the right result at the end of the game. The boys had to dig in hard. Doncaster have beaten some good teams recently so I knew it would be really tough.

In a match plagued by controversial refereeing decisions, it only took Scorpions three minutes to take the lead when Loz Wildbore dived over from close range. Lloyd White converted.

Lee Williams almost had a second try but it was ruled out for offside while Jamie Murphy had his touchdown disallowed for a forward pass.

Doncaster, enthused from their good fortune, stormed upfield from the restart and following a good set of six, Rob Lunt scored just left of the posts with Aaron Dobeck converting then adding a penalty to give his side an 8-6 lead.

But the lead didn't last long. Following a scrum, Aled James, fed a high pass over to Ashley Bateman who cleanly caught and scored in the corner.

Straight away, Scorpions extended their lead when Lewis Mills rolled over the line after looking like he'd blown his chance after stumbling when receiving the ball out wide. Loz Wildbore converted and the home side, after being 8-6 down, suddenly were 16-8 up.

Wildbore missed a tricky penalty four minutes before the interval but four minutes after the restart, he did successfully convert after Lee Williams took advantage of a loose ball to score a try under the sticks.

Murphy was unlucky to have a second try ruled out, this time for offside.

However Lee Gormersall was equally as unfortunate at the other end as he had a perfectly good try disallowed. He was judged to have been held up over the line but it clearly looked like he had grounded.

Paul Hughes was also short by centimetres as Doncaster pressed after winning a scrum against the head and feed while Shaun Leaf was also held up, but this looked justified.

Wildbore was held up too despite good work from Christiaan Roets to send him through. The half-back then blew a chance to extend the lead as he didn't see Roach's support, went alone and lost the ball.

"I'm not going to knock the players' commitment," said Doncaster coach Tony Miller. "I thought they're desire was superb. The last ten minutes we were under the cosh but we stood up and we were counted. I don't think there was a lot between the teams.

"I think we deserved a bonus point though as we were unfortunate to have a good try disallowed. I don't think we should have won but deserved something for our efforts."

SOUTH WALES SCORPIONS
31. Elliot Kear
14. Jamie Murphy
11. Christiaan Roets
3. Lee Williams
5. Ashley Bateman
37. Casey Bromilow
15. Andrew Gay
20. Geraint Davies
33. Lloyd White
10. Gil Dudson
6. Loz Wildbore
8. Lewis Mills
13. Aled James
Subs:
24. Liam Roach
12. Neil Dallimore
9. Joe McLocklan
17. Barrie Phillips

Tries: Wildbore (3), Bateman (30), Mills (33), Williams (44)
Goals: White 1/2, Wildbore 2/3

DONCASTER
4. Shaun Leaf
2. Aaron Henry
25. Chris Spurr
3. Lee Gormersall
30. Dean Cotton
35. Aaron Dobeck
7. Craig Fawcett
36. Ben Jones
32. Kyle Kessitt
29. Liam Crawley
33. Scott Watson
12. Ryan Steen
34. Rob Lunt
Subs:
20. Jack Ely
28. Paul Hughes
19. Garry Ellery
27. Matt Garbutt

Tries: Lunt (17)
Goals: Dobeck 2/2

Referee: M Kidd
Attendance: 492
Half-time: 16-8