Match report: Yorkshire Carnegie 24 Doncaster Knights 6

Second-placed Carnegie scored the only two tries of a scrappy encounter on a cold wet night to sentence Knights to a 24-6 defeat.

Knights, who have been slow out of the blocks on a number of occasions this season, took the game to the Leeds club from the off and deservedly took the lead on nine minutes when fly-half Declan Cusack opened the scoring with an angled 30 metre penalty.

Fly-half Joe Ford levelled the score with a 13th minute penalty after Carnegie, who had put together their best spell of pressure to date, had won a lineout against the throw inside the Doncaster 22 and mounted another attack.

The home side started to get the better of the territorial exchanges - without ever threatening the Doncaster line – and edged in front at 6-3 with an angled 30 metre penalty by Ford just short of the half-hour mark.

Cusack, who failed with a penalty from the halfway a minute or so earlier, levelled the scores at 6-6 with another long-range kick.

Ford quickly restored Carnegie’s lead with a simple penalty but failed to add the extras after flanker Andy Saull had touched down from a driving maul late in the half.

Cusack failed to reduce Knights’ 14-6 deficit when his long-range penalty fell short in stoppage time.

Knights started to get more width to their game towards the end of the third quarter but their hopes of avenging last season’s defeat were effectively dashed when Carnegie bagged a second try from a driving maul on 64 minutes and Ford, who also kicked a late penalty, added the extras.

Yorkshire Carnegie: McColl, Holmes, Lucock,Cassonm Stegmann, Ford, Davies; Beech, Mayhew, Cusack, Whetton, Beck, Burrows, Saull, Stedman. Rep: Nilsen, Boyce, O’Donnell, Sanderson, Walker, Green, Wright.

Doncaster Knights: Scanlon, Jarvis, Hayes, Clark, Lewis, Cusack, Heaney, Hislop, Hunter, Quigley, Challinor, Nolan, Makaafi, Owen, Williams. Rep: List, Allen, John, Orr, Flockhart, Humberstone, Edgerley.