Yorkshire Cup holders Sandal ready for another final appearance after victory at Doncaster Phoenix

After registering a well deserved 23-14 victory Sandal will now face Middlesbrough in the Yorkshire Cup final on Sunday, again at Castle Park, Doncaster.

Sandal won the cup in 2019, since when the competition has not been held or completed for so the club will be the defending holders of the trophy and will be anxious to retain its possession against a side which plays its league rugby in Regional Two North.

It only took Sandal four minutes to put points on the board against Phoenix with a Jake Adams penalty to give his side an early 3-0 lead.

Doncaster hit back to level with a penalty and began to put Sandal under pressure before nudging ahead with a second kick in the 28th minute.

The visitors got their game together, however, and on 35 minutes a Phoenix kick from within their own half was charged down. The ball was gratefully picked up by Danny Grainger and he made ground before handing on to a spirited Cam Allen who made no mistake in touching down near the posts. Jake Adams added the extras to take his side’s ahead at 10-6.

With half-time approaching and Sandal boosted by their try they went on the attack again into the Doncaster half from where they were awarded a penalty which Jake Adams converted. But four minutes later Doncaster countered with a similar penalty to make it 13-9 at the interval.

At this point the game was finely balanced and now with the visitors facing the elements in the second half they had to dig deep and maintain control if they were to secure victory.

For the first 20 minutes of the half the game fluctuated in fortune between the two sides, but then Sandal were awarded a penalty to touch in Doncaster’s 22 and from the subsequent line-out the forwards set up an unstoppable rolling maul from which Austen Thompson emerged having grounded the ball and a try was given. Jake Adams was successful with the conversion, giving his side an improved 20-9 lead.

Sandal continued to compete and after Doncaster went down to 14 men for 10 minutes when a yellow card was issued they increased the lead by three points with another Jake Adams penalty.

The roles were reversed when the visitors had two players sin-binned in the 48th and 54th minutes and Doncaster took advantage to score an unconverted try to take the score to 23-14.

Tense moments followed with Doncaster spending time in the Sandal half, but the visitors’ defence held out and prevented any further score to hold on for an excellent victory and earn a place in the club’s eighth Yorkshire Cup final.

The victory was not easily achieved, but credit must go to all the Sandal players for their gritty performance and defensive work against a Doncaster side which positively set out to spring a surprise.