Doncaster Knights started off their Championship campaign on the right foot as they beat visitors Ampthill 45-31 in the first round of the Championship.

The Knights lit up Castle Park almost instantly as a turnover in the breakdown from Thom Smith gave the hosts a penalty. Russ Bennett then kicked to touch before a successful Doncaster line out followed.

George Roberts threw a long ball in the line out to Connor Edwards, which allowed Doncaster to move the ball between the backs and open up the space for Jordan Olowofela to score the first try of the day.

Maliq Holden showed incredible work rate to set Donny up for a second try. Zach Kerr put in a kick up the wing which Holden chased, before tackling the Ampthill player who received the kick and then turning over the ball in the breakdown.

Following the penalty, Bennett kicked to touch, and George Roberts worked his way over the try line off the back of the rolling maul. Bennett added the extras.

Alex Dolly received a yellow card and Ampthill began to show some fight. The visitors spent a long time in the 22 before stretching the ball out wide and scoring in the corner. Their fly half Josh Barton added the extras.

Around 10 minutes later, with Dolly back on the field, Rhys Tait claimed the next five points for Doncaster. Dolly assisted the flanker’s try as he shipped the ball out to Tait, allowing him to squeeze over the line mid-tackle. Bennett slotted the conversion again. 

The backline then worked together beautifully as Zach Kerr tipped the ball to Jordan Olowofela while being tackled. Olowofela then sent the ball back inside to Russell Bennett, who used his footwork to beat Ampthill’s final defender and score. Bennett then added the extra two points to his own try, leaving the half time score 26-7.

Ampthill continued to show some fight heading into the second half, they come close after a series of pick-and-go’s within the 22. However, when they won a penalty and kicked for touch, Doncaster turned the ball over in the maul.

Olowofela then showed incredible skill and speed to claim his next try. Bennett put in a cross field kick which Olowofela chased and caught brilliantly before showing real pace to get the ball over the line. Bennett scored the conversion.

Ampthill answer back as they score two tries in quick succession. The first came from a rolling maul, allowing their hooker over the line. The second was scored out on the wing as the visitors found an overlap. Neither tries were converted.

Full back, Olowofela then claimed his hat-trick try. Morgan Bunting, who had replaced Bennett, threw a long ball out to the wing, where Jordan received the ball and exploited the gap that had opened in front of him. Bunting’s conversion went slightly wide.

Ampthill add another seven points when ex-Knight Fraser Strachan chased a grubber kick from Barton and scored by the posts. Barton converted successfully.

The visitors continued to close the scores as Barton found a gap in Doncaster’s defence and scored under the posts. He added the extras.

In the 80^th minute, Semesa Rokoduguni reminded Castle Park who was in charge with fantastic decision making. Bunting’s attempt at the sticks for a penalty went to the right, however Rokoduguni chased the kick, caught the ball and scored in the corner.

Morgan Bunting then added the extras in the final kick of the game, meaning Doncaster won 45-31 and Jordan Olowofela was named man of the match.

Team Lineups

Replacements