DONCASTER coach Richard Horne says his side need to stay “in the arm wrestle” for longer when taking on top teams like London Broncos.
The boss felt his charges had spells of being competitive in their play-off qualifying final at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.
But he said giving away possession and field position and failure to take their chances proved costly as the hosts stepped on the accelerator in the second half and ended up winning 42-6.
It leaves Doncaster facing a ‘sudden-death’ tie at home to Barrow on Sunday, a repeat of their meeting in the first phase of the play-offs, when they romped home 72-0.
Unusually, Doncaster have this year had four meetings with London at four different grounds, but with the same outcome.
After a 30-16 home league loss in April came a 52-20 1895 Cup quarter-final defeat in a May tie at Richmond Athletic Ground.
Continued unavailability of the Cherry Red at Wimbledon meant July’s league return was switch to Ebbsfleet United Football Club, where the Broncos came out 68-18 on top.
“We knew what was coming, and we managed to get in a bit of an arm wrestle with them in the first half and get a try which kept us in it (at 14-6),” he said.
“After keeping that going at the start of the second half, we gave away a penalty, and after a couple of sets on our try-line, conceded.
“That’s always liable to happen against a quality side – if you turn over the ball and give them field position, they will make you pay.”
Doncaster were hampered by the early loss of prop Brad Knowles to a jaw injury, and Horne reflected: “It didn’t help our middle rotation.”