MATCH REPORT: HURRICANES 18 DONCASTER 52
Elliott Windley was one of a number of Hurricanes players who got injured on Sunday. Pic: Andy Shaw.
MIDLANDS HURRICANES 18 DONCASTER 52
DAVE MUSSON, Portway, Sunday 14 August 2022
A SEASON-ENDING injury to halfback George Collins capped off a miserable afternoon for the Hurricanes against Doncaster.
The former Huddersfield Giant landed awkwardly while being tackled midway through the first half and, after a lengthy delay, was stretchered away. Head coach Rich Squires confirmed after the game that Collins had dislocated his knee cap.
Collins wasn’t the only casualty of a punishing afternoon for the Midlands side; Elliott Windley hobbled off inside the first five minutes and has likely damaged ankle ligaments - so could also be out for the rest of the season - while Chris Cullimore and Tyler Hepple also picked up injuries during the game.
Rich Squires said: “We’ve done it tough today. We had a bare 17 as it is - Hayden Freeman had to drop out last night, we’re still without Sam Bowring, and some people played today that aren’t fully fit.
“It was a tough ask and we were there or thereabouts, but we only completed two out of 14 sets in the first 20 minutes - it just killed us.
“George Collins dislocated his knee cap - that’ll be his end of season - and Elliott Windley looks like he’s torn ligaments in his ankle so it could be the end of the season for him as well. Tyler Hepple hobbled around for the last 20 minutes with a recurrence of a knee injury, and Chris Cullimore might have done ankle ligaments too.
“Whatever team we put together next week will be a patched up one, but we’ll finish the season.
“We’ve got to stay together as a group. It can be a quite disheartening time of the year, when you’ve missed out on the play-offs and you’re doing it tough. We’ve got to stick together and finish the season - it’s not going to get any easier but we’ve got to get on with it.”
The game itself was something of a slog. In sweltering conditions, both teams suffered and each committed plenty of unforced errors. However, Doncaster were clinical, and a Watson Boas hat-trick, brace from Jason Tali, and further scores from Sam Smeaton, Connor Robinson, Greg Burns, and Tom Halliday wrapped up their eighth consecutive win.
Kieron Lawton, Brad Clavering, and Matty Welham crossed the line for a battered Hurricanes, who will now look to patch together a squad that can make the most out of a favourable trio of fixtures to round off the season.
Doncaster wasted no time getting started, scoring inside two minutes. After moving up the field with little resistance, Smeaton crashed onto a delicate Boas pass to score.
Hurricanes regrouped and soon dominated possession but couldn’t find the magic touch. Three times in quick succession they came within inches, only for their final pass to let them down.
Their profligacy was punished midway through the half when the Dons struck again. While Robinson had the glory of finishing it, the try was made by a swashbuckling run from Jason Tali, then some delightful hands between him and his countryman Boas.
Moments later Boas did it all by himself, breaking the defensive line with some twinkling footwork, before showing great pace to cruise home.
After a lengthy spell for Collins’ injury, the Hurricanes finally got some points on the board when Lawton pounced on a loose pass twenty metres from his own line and burned a trial through the scorched pitch for a sizzling length-of-the-field try.
They would almost certainly have had another moments before the break when Matty Welham broke the line and gave Phil Cowburn a perfect pass, only for the fullback to pull up with cramp.
The Dons put themselves in a commanding position shortly after the break with two quick tries. First, Burns burrowed over from close range, after Tali had been held short.
Then, on their next set, Tali burst through the defensive line on halfway and had enough pace and power to go the distance.
Credit to the Hurricanes, they stayed positive and soon hit back with a simple score – Clavering hitting the ball at pace close to the line and crashing over.
Ten minutes later, the hosts got another one back when Matty Welham danced his way through the Dons’ defence and finished well.
Any thoughts of another avalanche of late Hurricanes points – as they’d done a week earlier – were quashed when Boas bagged his second, gleefully sprinting home after a knock on from the hosts.
And the magician from Papua New Guinea made sure of the points minutes later, when his sleight of hand carved a hole in the flagging Hurricanes defence, allowing him to jink through and wrap up his hat trick.
There was still time for Tali to grab his second – linking well with Robinson – and then Halliday to take them past the half-century.
The Hurricanes next game is away at West Wales Raiders on Saturday 20 August, kick off 3pm.
Hurricanes man of the match: Liam Welham
MATCHFACTS
HURRICANES: Cowburn, Lawton, M Welham, L Welham, J Dawson, Collins, Stead, Walton, Windley, Bull, B Dawson, Wilkinson, Hepple.
Subs (all used): Sheridan, Cullimore, Clavering, Newbound.
Tries: Lawton (32), Clavering (53), M Welham (63)
Goals: Stead 3/3
DONCASTER: Taulapapa, Halliday, Storey, Tali, Corion, Boas, Robinson, Kenga, Burns, McConnell, Ruan, Smeaton, Petersen.
Subs (all used): Fella, Roberts, York, Whitmore.
Tries: Smeaton (2), Robinson (18), Boas (22, 67, 72), Burns (47), Tali (50, 76), Halliday (79)
Goals: Robinson 8/9
Penalty count: 5-5
Half-time: 6-18
Referee: Matt Rossleigh
Attendance: 194
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 0-18, 6-18; 6-22, 6-28, 12-28, 18-28, 18-34, 18-40, 18-46, 18-52