Doncaster 18 Bears 13 - Betfred League 1, Round 17

High-flying Doncaster, one of the form teams in League 1 secured themselves a play-off place, against a valiant and creative Coventry side who went in with the lead at half-time.

The Bears have never beaten the Dons, neither at home nor away, but that record looked in serious danger for much of the game.

The home side scored first as the talismanic Jason Tali shot over the line for the first of his two tries. A conversion ,made it 6-0 after just over ten minutes.

Clever play by Dan Coates saw him kick the ball along the ground before pouncing on it behind the bemused defenders. He then went on to convert his own try bringing the scores level.

The Bears then took the lead in front of a stunned home crowd, courtesy of Kadeem Williams and another Coates conversion.

Tali then bagged his second try of the afternoon, and the subsequent conversion put the scores level once more.

Then just before half time, Coates added a field goal, and that point put the score at 12-13, with the Bears having the psychological advantage of being in the lead as the teams headed for the tunnel at half time.

The second half failed to live up to the promise of the first and Doncaster appeared clumsy and rattled by the Midlands upstarts who looked like coasting to a tight victory.

But then in an instant which changed the whole game, Doncaster’s Liam Johnson scored a try straight out of Dan Coates’ playbook, kicking the ball and pouncing on it over the line.

Sweeting added two more points with the conversion, and that was how it stayed, 18-13, despite some good attacking moves from the Bears which failed to produce further points.

And so the Bears best ever season draws closer to its end with one more tough away game next Sunday at Rochdale.