DONCASTER 64 SALFORD 0
SPENCER ARNOLD, Eco-Power Stadium, Saturday

DONCASTER translated their strong recent league form into the 1895 Cup as a dominant 80 minutes ensured progression to the second round.

Richard Horne’s side, who are on a six-game Championship winning streak, have scored 184 points in their last three outings while this was a second successive clean sheet.

Starting as they meant to go on, the Dons kept the majority of the possession in the opening minutes, and with plenty of quick offloads and strong ball-handling, they scored after six minutes through a blitzing run from Watson Boas.

Connor Robinson added the first of his ten conversions of eleven home tries.

A trading of sets and errors from both sides followed, and both came close to the other’s trylines, but a looping pass to Edene Gebbie gave him the space to jog over.

More errors and penalties followed, with signs of aggression from both sides, and it was still only 12-0 approaching the half-hour mark.

That’s when Gebbie got another, this time following a powerful and sidestepping sprint through the Salford defence.

Almost instantly following this, the Dons came storming up the pitch once again, and a powerful Isaac Misky run and offload to Tom Holmes gave them a more comfortable scoreline to work with.

Rapid passes and bruising runs led to Luis Johnson getting his name on the scoresheet for the Dons, and then shortly after, with Jack Bibby in the sin bin for a high tackle, scrappy but effective passing out wide found its way to Holmes, who got his second of the game to make it 36-0.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with a flurry of late tries building up the score.

A dancing run along the left side from Holmes gave the hosts their only try before the 67th minute.

In the meantime, Salford came into the second half a lot more aggressively. Unfortunately for them that meant they gifted possession a lot more through errors and penalties, and in truth they weren’t much of a threat against a strong Doncaster defence despite their best efforts.

Another four-score salvo was started by a flurry of offloads between three players, resulting in a try for James Glover.

Not long after his last, Glover was in again, becoming the third Doncaster player to get at least two tries in the fixture, and their dominance was clearer than ever.

Sam Smeaton was next to cross the line after some concise passing down their offensive line.

To close out the game, in the final seconds Suaia Matagi gave the hosts a scoreline to be proud of, after barrelling over a tired, weakened Salford line.

GAMESTAR: Every time Tom Holmes had his hands on the ball, he looked absolutely unstoppable.

GAMEBREAKER: The second try for Holmes, after the half-time hooter, put the Dons into a comfortable lead that allowed them to complete the second half with no pressure.

MATCHFACTS

DONCASTER
1 Tom Holmes
2 Bureta Faraimo
4 Reece Lyne
23 James Glover
18 Edene Gebbie
24 Watson Boas
7 Connor Robinson
25 Gadwin Springer
20 Isaac Misky
27 Titus Gwaze
14 Jacob Jones
22 Luis Johnson
13 Loui McConnell
Subs (all used)
10 Suaia Matagi
11 Sam Smeaton
15 Jordan Baldwinson
16 Pauli Pauli

Tries: Boas (6), Gebbie (19, 29), Holmes (32, 40, 50), Johnson (38), Glover (67, 71), Smeaton (74), Matagi (80)
Goals: Robinson 10/11

SALFORD
1 Jack Holmes
2 Sam Hill
3 Ollie Garmston
4 Noah Appleby
5 Keane Gilford
6 Lewis Pilling
7 Jack Gatcliffe
8 Sam Bowring
9 Fin Yates
10 Joe Bajer
11 Owen Haldenby
12 Reece Stanton
13 Shaun Costello
Subs (all used)
14 Jacob Andrews-Smith
15 Jack Bibby
16 Danny Lynch
17 Cole Appleby

Sin bin: Bibby (39) – high tackle

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 18-0, 24-0, 30-0, 36-0; 42-0, 46-0, 52-0, 58-0, 64-0

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Doncaster: Tom Holmes; Salford: Reece Stanton

Penalty count: 6-2
Half-time: 36-0
Referee: Denton Arnold
Attendance: 735