Better show in defeat a consolation for Doncaster RLFC coach Richard Horne

But what looked to be a three-horse race for the only two spots realistically still up for grabs at the start of the competition is now a four-way battle following Keighley’s second successive win.

Although disappointed to lose 14-10 Dons head coach Richard Horne took some consolation from a much-improved display in a game he says ‘could have gone either way.’

“They pulled away a little bit in the second half (after we turned around 6-6) but we got back into it on the back of a nice little kick to the corner,” he told The Star.

“But we probably didn’t have the field position in the last eight minutes or so to really pressure them and they held out and found a way to win which we are not quite doing at the moment though we aren’t a million miles away.

“The intent I asked for was there and the effort the players put in was phenomenal, particularly in defence.

“We did a job on their forwards who usually roll sides over.

“We just need to tidy things up more when we’ve got the ball because we are still having to do too much defending at the moment and it is hurting us a little bit when we do have the ball.

“We probably didn’t execute our moves good enough at times to trouble them and that cost us.

“The wet conditions didn’t help in that respect.”

Horne, who felt his players all justified their selection, will be checking on dual-registered Hull FC back Nick Rawsthorne, who picked up a knock, at tomorrow’s training session.