{"id":437154,"date":"2026-01-25T20:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T20:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/437154\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T20:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T20:11:09","slug":"doncaster-hold-off-resurgent-newcastle-thunder-to-progress-total-rugby-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/437154\/","title":{"rendered":"Doncaster hold off resurgent Newcastle Thunder to progress \u2013 Total Rugby League"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

DONCASTER 24 NEWCASTLE THUNDER 22
DAN FOWLER, Eco-Power Stadium, Sunday<\/p>\n

DONCASTER edged past Newcastle to book their place in the next round of the Challenge Cup, with Castleford next up in a fortnight\u2019s time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the scores level at 16-all after a very competitive first half, Doncaster got their noses in front on 44 minutes through Luke Briscoe and didn\u2019t relinquish their advantage from there.<\/p>\n

Richard Horne\u2019s side will have expected a tough challenge from their Geordie opposition and they got just that, with Thunder revitalised thanks to bulky investment and a partnership with York Knights.<\/p>\n

Newcastle\u2019s spine of Aidan McGowan, Will Roberts and Cody Hunter all looked lively in the opening stages as they won a goal-line dropout, but the deadlock was broken unexpectedly with the visitors\u2019 backs seemingly against the wall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Doncaster had got themselves into a dangerous attacking position, but an errant pass found its way into the grateful hands of Andy Djeukessi, who went the distance. Hunter converted for 0-6 after 14 minutes.<\/p>\n

Newcastle extended their advantage soon after as former Queensland Cup prop forward Ryan Jackson showed that pedigree in full as he powered over from close in. Hunter shanked his conversion attempt wide.<\/p>\n

A tricky kick-off from Dons halfback Cory Aston was spilled by his opposite number Will Roberts and the hosts were keen to capitalise on their newfound territory. Luis Johnson ran a great line to force his way through and break his side\u2019s duck. Connor Robinson converted to cut the deficit to four points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A lively final six minutes of the half saw three tries scored. Doncaster hit the front with back-to-back efforts, the first a rather simple equation: give the ball to Pauli Pauli and let him do the rest. The second a well worked effort as James Glover set sail and had Tom Holmes in support. Robinson kicked one from two.<\/p>\n

Pauli went from hero to zero as the try-scorer knocked on deep in his own half with two minutes remaining, which Newcastle capitalised on when Roberts stepped his way to the line and Hunter\u2019s conversion levelled game at half-time.<\/p>\n

A double blow for Thunder occurred early in the second half as two errors \u2013 one with ball in hand and one in defence \u2013 helped to give their hosts a leg-up. Having spilled possession on halfway, Newcastle couldn\u2019t survive the ensuing Dons onslaught as a cross-field kick was knocked backwards and Luke Briscoe dotted down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The following set saw Doncaster make plenty of metres and they were rubbing their hands when a penalty arrived on the last tackle for a late hit on Aston. A penalty goal from Robinson extended the Dons\u2019 advantage to eight points.<\/p>\n

Despite the slow start to the second stanza, Newcastle grew into it and the contest was well and truly on when Taylor Pemberton sneaked over from dummy-half. Hunter\u2019s conversion made it a two-point game.<\/p>\n

Connor Jones was denied an early try of the season contender as his chip-and-chase effort with five minutes remaining ended with the former Featherstone man being held up.<\/p>\n

That last-ditch defensive effort gave Thunder a chance to steal the victory but, despite having good field position, they couldn\u2019t quite breach the Dons\u2019 defence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it had been a thoroughly entertaining watch and it\u2019s fair to say Castleford shouldn\u2019t be taking the Dons lightly in the next round.<\/p>\n

GAMESTAR: Luis Johnson got on the scoresheet and made plenty of metres in the Doncaster pack.<\/p>\n

GAMEBREAKER: Connor Robinson\u2019s penalty goal proved to be the difference between the two sides.<\/p>\n

MATCHFACTS<\/p>\n

DONCASTER
1 Tom Holmes
5 Luke Briscoe
4 Reece Lyne
23 James Glover
18 Edene Gebbie
7 Connor Robinson
6 Cory Aston
10 Suaia Matagi
19 Connor Jones
25 Gadwin Springer
12 Alex Sutcliffe
22 Luis Johnson
17 Muizz Mustapha
Subs (all used)
3 Brad Hey
16 Pauli Pauli
20 Isaac Misky
21 Tyla Hepi<\/p>\n

Tries: Johnson (22), Pauli (34), Holmes (36), Briscoe (44)
Goals: Robinson 4\/5<\/p>\n

THUNDER
23 Aidan McGowan
2 Andy Djeukessi
27 Jordan Lipp
11 Harvey Reynolds
5 Brad Ward
6 Cody Hunter
7 Will Roberts
10 Ryan Jackson
9 Taylor Pemberton
8 Bailey Antrobus
12 Noah Whittingham
24 Matty Foster
15 Brenden Santi
Subs (all used)
14 Maxime Rostang
16 Leo Tennison
18 Ukuma Ta\u2019ai
26 Kieran Hudson<\/p>\n

Tries: Djeukessi (14), Jackson (20), Roberts (39), Pemberton (57)
Goals: Hunter 3\/4<\/p>\n

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-10, 6-10, 12-10, 16-10, 16-16; 22-16, 24-16, 24-22<\/p>\n

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Doncaster: Luis Johnson; Thunder: Cody Hunter<\/p>\n

Penalty count: 6-4
Half-time: 16-16
Referee: Matty Lynn
Attendance: 843<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DONCASTER 24 NEWCASTLE THUNDER 22DAN FOWLER, Eco-Power Stadium, Sunday DONCASTER edged past Newcastle to book their place in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-437154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}