And still we wait….

With only 8 minutes remaining when David Doherty crossed in the corner to secure Leeds bonus point try, and give his side the lead, (even if undeserved), it seemed that Yorkshire Carnegie had finally laid the ghost of Castle Park to rest.

However, one again Carnegie blew it, a combination of the errors they have been making all season gifted Doncaster one last chance to attack and win the game. And they did.

A bare look at the result suggests this points bonanza was a gripping enthralling contest, but it was far from that. Leeds had led 3 – 0, and 11 – 10 but the Knights led 17 – 11 at the interval, thanks to two well taken, converted, tries by speedy winger And Bulumakau who on both occasions waltzed through some shocking midfield defence, and a penalty, to a scrappy Leeds try credited to Ryan Burrows, and two Harry Leonard penalties. As usual, when the visitors got the ball it was kicked away or they conceded penalties at vital times and in all honesty they were lucky to be only 6 points behind.

The second half began with more Donny pressure, and only a forward pass stopped another try, but it only delayed the inevitable as more shocking tackling allowed Simon Humberstone to skip over by the posts, the successful conversion taking the score to 24 – 11.

Carnegie woke up somewhat and following good lineout work and a strong run from Matt Smith, they created an overlap allowing Stegmann to cross in the corner. Shortly after this Chris Walker made an excellent break down the blind side and gave Doherty a run to the corner, and Leonard’s excellent conversion narrowed the gap to 1 point.

Almost immediately Leeds gifted another penalty away, and Cusack tagged on the three points to extend the lead, but play was scrappy and niggly, and when home player was given a yellow card, Carnegie kicked to the corner, and following a strong drive the ball was shipped across field for Doc to race in and give his side the lead.

Again, Leeds conceded a penalty within kicking distance, but for the only time all afternoon Cusack missed the target, and it with the clock ticking, Leeds only had to manage closing the game out. They couldn’t!

With acres of room to play with Hodgson hoisted a kick straight to a Knight. Why he didn’t stab it along the floor into touch to waste time nobody knows. Donny ran the ball back, and a kick over the heads of the Leeds defence seemed harmless, but as Jonah and Doc watched the ball bounce, (why?). Bulumakau collected and raced away. A last dich tackle kept him out, (Buzz, I think) and then another stopped the try, but the cover had been sucked in, and when the ball came back out,there was a 3 man overlap waiting to cross the whitewash for the winning try.

Sadly, too many of the more experienced players are not gelling together. There were times today when Buzz and Plug seemed to be on a 2 man crusade as they covered every blade of grass for their cause. Matt Smith didn’t miss a throw, and had a couple of storming runs, and Chris Walker and Jared Williams did well when they came on. Once again the kicking from hand was shocking, and some of the tackling was atrocious .Sadly another game we should have won has been thrown away at the death. After the final whistle, Matt Clark swung a punch at Lewis Boyce, the game doesn’t need this, and hopefully if it has been seen on video action will be take.

Matt Smith, and Phil Nilsen shone for Carnegie today, but yet again, it’s the man machine that is Ryan Burrows who gets my bottle of pop as man of the match. Well played Buzz.