Workington Town 34, Doncaster 20

WORKINGTON Town joint coach Gary Charlton wasn’t turning cartwheels after watching his side put together back-to-back wins.

For once again it was a hit and miss performance by the west Cumbrians who  were 16-0 ahead at half-time but lost the second period 20-18.

“I had my head in my hands during the second-half because it was completely opposite to what we had been doing earlier.

“We allowed Doncaster to get back into the game and although I thought we always had enough in hand it wasn’t good to watch.

“After beating two of the bottom three we go to the third of them next Sunday and Gateshead were hammered 132-0 today. It’s a game we had obviously targeted to win but there is bound to be some sort of reaction from the Thunder after that kind of defeat,” said Charlton.

As for Doncaster, they gave a gritty performance and were probably a shade unfortunate not to take home a bonus point.

Paul Hughes was held-up over the line and Kyle Keswick had a try disallowed for a double movement, both in the closing quarter of the game, or they could have been even closer to their hosts.

That second-half performance represented a fine effort by the Dons who had been 16-0 behind at half-time, so actually won the second period 20-18.

Shaun Leaf was a lively and dangerous centre; Simon Brown directed operations well from half-back and in full-back Michael Butterfield, coach Tony Miller appears to have found a potential gem.

It was Butterfield, on his debut, who sparked Doncaster into life five minutes into the second-half. He was up in the line to finish-off from close range after some snappy handling had opened-up the Workington defence.

Brown converted and three minutes later Leaf skipped through to score out wide on the right as Doncaster continued to give Town some anxious moments and they closed the gap to just six points.

But that was as close as they came for they allowed Liam Finch to dart through from 15 yards for a well-taken try on 52 minutes.

Although Leaf finished-ff well to grab his second try on 57 minutes, Scott Kaighan kicked a penalty four minutes later and soon afterwards Lee Dutton barged over for Town’s fifth try.

That still failed to subdue the Doncaster spirit and resilience and on 69 minutes they scored an excellent fourth try as centre Chris Spurr finished off some splendid quick handling across the line. Brown’s conversion gave Doncaster bonus point hopes.

But those were dashed three minutes from the end. Home full-back Brett Carter put in a great, darting run out wide and even when tackled somehow slipped the perfect pass to veteran winger Neil Frazer who went in for the try which Darren Holt converted.

Holt (pictured) had arrived for his Workington debut 24 minutes into the game and operating, for the most part at acting half-back, quickly started to give the Workington side some shape and direction.

Doncaster had tackled well for the most part  but were breached three times in the first-half.

Mike Whitehead forced his way over from close range on 15 minutes after Lee Dutton had been stopped almost on the line.

Holt’s arrival almost immediately produced dividends as a sharp little burst by the veteran and long, accurate pass was shuffled on to Jarrad Stack who made the line.

Then on 37 minutes Holt popped-up a perfect pass near the posts for Joe McKenna to thunder over and score. Holt converted the last two.

So with a 16-0 lead and really appearing to be in charge it was a sudden shock to the system when Doncaster pulled it back to 16-10 and there were some uncomfortable moments before Frazer’s late try sealed it.

The win pushed Town back into the play-off positions and they have a great opportunity to consolidate next week when they visit struggling Gateshead.

For Doncaster there will be brighter times ahead if they can maintain the spirit and belief that they showed at Derwent Park, particularly over the second-half.

Workington: Carter, Backhouse, Beattie, Low, Frazer, L. Finch, Kaighan, Dutton, Marshall, Coward, Whitehead, Stack, Coupar. Subs (all used) McKenna, Robinson, Holt, Macdonald.

Doncaster: Butterfield, Colton, Leaf, Spurr, Wilson, Brown, Fawcett, Crawley, Keswick, Shaw, Carbutt, Steen, Lunt. Subs (all used) Hughes, Ely, Stanley, Bassiner.

Referee: Chris Leatherbarrow, St. Helens

Crowd: 410

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