A case for the defence

Doncaster Phoenix II 10 Dinnington II 12 THE seconds showed that victory can be built on defence as they put in an excellent effort to claim a narrow victory. The first half play was very even although it did mostly take place in the Dinnington half. Excellent defence throughout the side was typified by veteran David Brothwell who covered the width of the pitch from wing to wing to put in a cover tackle and stop an almost certain try. Dinnington did have the occasional flowing move but each time the ball carrier ran away from the support and they were easily defended. Despite a lot of action half time came with neither side having scored. Dinnington changed tactics in the second half, keeping the ball tighter to the forwards and at the same time negating the home side’s quicker backs. Doncaster still put the pressure on but Dinnington seemed better set up to cope with it and concentrated more on kicking for position to try to peg the home side back. Midway through the half, good play earned Dinnington a penalty near the home line but they declined the kick for a scrum. This proved to be a wise decision as Michael Leitch picked up at the back and barged his way to the line for a try converted by Danny Wilkinson. Doncaster came straight back and managed to outflank the Dinnington defence to put their winger in under the posts. Their kicker then managed to hook the ball wide with the conversion attempt leaving Dinnington 7-5 ahead. Dinnington decided to protect the ball as much as they could to defend their lead. However, they were also able to make ground and with five minutes to go, Leitch scored again as he took a quick tap penalty and just managed to stretch to the line as he was tackled. Doncaster then put in a storming finish, running the ball at all cost, and set up their winger for a second unconverted try. From the restart, deep into their own half, the home side again tried to run the ball but when Dinnington bundled them into touch the final whistle blew.