Sat 2 Oct 2021
A game played in strong winds and driving rain resulted in a low scoring, tight encounter with the game being moved to Doncaster’s all weather pitch after an earlier pitch inspection had determined that the first team pitch was unplayable. North started well and declined a couple of simple penalty kicks at goal instead opting to kick for the corner. This paid off after 5 minutes with Luis Evitt touching down for his sixth try in three games after the forwards had caught and driven over from the resulting line out, Murphy just pushing the difficult conversion wide. Doncaster then also had kickable penalties but like North opted to kick for field position and they too drove over in the corner to draw level, the Phoenix fly half producing an excellent conversion in the conditions from wide out to take the lead after 30 minutes. Neither side were able to add any further scores with the conditions making handling difficult and the half ended with the hosts leading 7-5.
North started the second half well and again opted not to attempt a kickable penalty, this time the good field position not resulting in a score with the hosts clearing their lines. Doncaster extended their lead with a penalty after North had infringed close to their posts. Gareth Bladen then made the most of one of the new laws introduced this season kicking a 50-22 kick to put pressure on the Phoenix line. A period of pressure form North ended with what looked like a score but the referee determined that the ball was held up over the line and the hosts were able to clear with a goal line drop out, another new law introduced at the start of this season. North continued to pressurise and after 30 minutes the Phoenix tight head prop was penalised for a high tackle and spent the remainder of the game in the sin bin. North took advantage to dominate the last 10 minutes and after good work by the forwards Will Biddell crossed to level the scores. Elliot Murphy stepped up to slot the difficult conversion to complete the scoring and give his side a narrow but deserved 12-10 victory. An excellent team performance with the bench of Adam Stirling, Ben Rochelle and James Morgan all contributing in the second half. Next week Bridgnorth host old foes and local rivals Dudley Kingswinford at the Edgar Davies Ground kick off 3pm.
