LONDON BRONCOS 68 DONCASTER 18
DAVID BALLHEIMER, Kuflink Stadium, Ebbsfleet, Saturday

LONDON were given a stern physical test by Doncaster, but after weathering storms at the start of each half, they still claimed a 50-point victory.

In the third minute, London lost the ball on their 30 and, shortly after, a brilliant, flicked pass from Bureta Faraimo allowed Watson Boas to dive over in the right corner.

But from there, normal service resumed as the Broncos made it 17 wins out of 17 in their pursuit of a perfect regular season.

In almost perfect conditions, both teams made handling errors and Donny’s second proved very costly as Neil Tchamambe dived over for a try in the left corner.

London took the lead in the 15th minute, Finley Glare darting over from dummy-half after James Meadows’ grubber had resulted in a goal-line drop-out.

An errant Cory Aston pass bounced off Boas’ hand on London’s 30, giving Glare a quickfire double, this time a 60-metre return.

Another goal-line drop-out from Doncaster’s overworked defence led to a try for Ben Hursey, then two penalties conceded in a minute added to Doncaster’s woes when sub Connor O’Beirne’s first touch of the ball saw him dance over the line beside the posts.

A 30th-minute off-the-ball hit on Alex Walker led to a melee, from which Faraimo was sin-binned for the foul, Meadows for retaliating and Isaac Misky, who had not even entered the game from the bench, was red-carded.

In the period of twelve-on-twelve, London added to their lead when Gairo Voro made a last-tackle break and sent Brandon Webster-Mansfield over for a try that the latter also converted in the absence of Meadows, who kicked their other nine successful goals of the evening.

Early in the second half, Faraimo – just out of the bin – scored the Dons’ second try. A kick from Tom Holmes beat Tchamambe and Faraimo touched down in the corner.

Doncaster’s next possession resulted in Faraimo’s second try, this time from his regular right-wing position, outmuscling Elliot Wallis in a challenge for a bomb by Connor Robinson, who added his only successful conversion from four attempts.

London steadied the ship in the 54th minute, Voro collecting an Alex Walker pass and cutting towards the uprights.

After 59 minutes, Aston lifted a delicious chip over the London defence and Boas grabbed the ball one-handed before planting it on the ground.

Robinson’s kick, however, clanged off an upright and the visitors would score no more points.

Doncaster strayed offside after a quick play-the-ball and, given a new possession close to halfway, the Broncos added another try, O’Beirne sending Reagan Campbell-Gillard over close to the posts.

Two tackles after the restart, Sivila Havili gave Luke Smith a try behind the posts.

Meadows and Campbell-Gillard combined to give Voro his second try, making it three straight scoring possessions.

Two penalties put too much pressure on Doncaster’s overworked and exhausted defence and Smith sniped over for his second try.

The last word belonged to Lewis Bienik, who ran through a tired Greg Burns tackle to score London’s twelfth try beside the uprights.

London coach Jason Demtriou said: “After their first try, I thought we were pretty good. It was a good old-fashioned Championship game; it was pretty brutal.”

GAMESTAR: Luke Smith did a tremendous shift in the broiling north Kent heat, grabbing two tries.

GAMEBREAKER: After conceding two tries at the start of the second half. Gairo Voro’s score showed Doncaster that the Broncos weren’t going to break.

MATCHFACTS

BRONCOS
22 Alex Walker
26 Neil Tchamambe
3 Robert Mathias
20 Brandon Webster-Mansfield
2 Elliot Wallis
23 Gairo Voro
18 James Meadows
8 Reagan Campbell-Gillard
14 Finley Glare
10 Emarly Bitungane
11 Luke Smith
19 Ben Hursey
13 Siliva Havili
Subs (all used)
4 Alex Max
6 Connor O’Beirne
16 Epel Kapinias
24 Lewis Bienik

Tries: Tchamambe (10), Glare (15, 20), Hursey (24), O’Beirne (28), Webster-Mansfield (37), Voro (54, 70), Campbell-Gillard (63), Smith (66, 75), Bienik (80)
Goals: Meadows 9/11, Webster-Mansfield 1/1
Sin bin: Meadows (30) – retaliation

DONCASTER
1 Tom Holmes
2 Bureta Faraimo
24 Watson Boas
23 James Glover
5 Luke Briscoe
6 Cory Aston
7 Connor Robinson
10 Suaia Matagi
9 Greg Burns
17 Muizz Mustapha
14 Jacob Jones
22 Luis Johnson
13 Loui McConnell
Subs
11 Sam Smeaton
20 Isaac Misky (not used)
21 Tyla Hepi
28 Tom Whitehead

Tries: Boas (3, 60), Faraimo (43, 48)
Goals: Robinson 1/4
Sin bin: Faraimo (30) – off-the-ball tackle
Dismissal: Misky (30) – fighting

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 4-4, 10-4, 14-4, 20-4, 26-4, 32-4; 32-8, 32-14, 38-14, 38-18, 44-18, 50-18, 56-18, 62-18, 68-18

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Broncos: Ben Hursey; Doncaster: Watson Boas

Penalty count: 6-4
Half-time: 32-4
Referee: Denton Arnold