Dons head the SuperLeague Round 14 review : v good article : Mon May 16, 2011 1:28 pm
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just found this on utv. it heads the super league review, basically reviewing the aftermath but looking at donny in a positive light.
http://www.u.tv/Sport/Super-League-Set- ... bdea75cbf6 (Mods feel free to move this to another thread, wasnt sure if this warrents a new thread or not), i think its a bloody good article Super League Set of Six: Round 13 Text Size: A A | POST A COMMENT | PRINT | SHARE Andy Wilson: The Shaun Leaf scandal aftermath, the best of Devon and are Huddersfield Giants now the entertainers? 1) Another Bloody Sunday The prospect of spending Sunday afternoon in Doncaster assessing the aftermath of the Shaun Leaf scandal didn't seem all that attractive - especially when it turned out that having failed to book a press pass the necessary five days in advance, it would cost 12 quid to get in. But that represented rather good value for a reminder of the appeal of watching rugby league at the lowest professional level. The game itself was absorbing, as the Doncaster players strained every sinew to end a grim week with a morale-boosting win against a Keighley team who are challenging for promotion from Division One of the Championship. They were good value for a 14-4 half-time lead, and although the loss of their impressive full-back Mick Butterfield hit them hard as the Cougars nudged ahead with two tries in the first six minutes of the second half, Donny regained the advantage when the chunky loose forward Mike Emmett plunged over with seven minutes remaining. It took two moments of inspiration from Jason Demetriou, the Australian who gave such outstanding service to Wakefield Trinity before joining Keighley as player-coach during the winter, to deny Doncaster the victory their efforts deserved. First his clever kick to the right wing led to the Dons wing Stewart Sanderson being sent to the sin bin for holding back the Cougars flier Gavin Duffy, and then it was Demetriou who capitalised on that numerical advantage by stepping over for the match-winning try. Fortunately, the DNA of the Doncaster club ensures that they will battle on, both from Sunday's disappointment and the damaging off-field publicity that preceded it. The coach Tony Miller, who has been with the club for the best part of two decades, led the players across the pitch to salute their hard core of loyal supporters before kick-off, in a fitting "We're-all-in-this-together" gesture, and spoke eloquently afterwards about their determination to move on from the Leaf affair. Beneath the stand the officials of the Supporters' Trust who sponsor Leaf were still slightly stunned by the controversy surrounding such a popular and wholehearted player - although it hadn't stopped them having a good time at Friday's fund-raising comedy night. They squeezed a fiver out of me for their sponsored walk to Rochdale before their away game against the Hornets in July, and a couple reminisced colourfully on the rare highs but mostly lows of supporting the club. No mention of rugby league in Doncaster is complete without a reference to Another Bloody Sunday, the Yorkshire Televison documentary made in 1980, when the team ended a record losing run with a win at Huyton on the last day of the season. The last unexpected bonus of Sunday's trip to the Keepmoat was the discovery that the programme has made it to You Tube, in five parts, complete with the perfect Prokofiev soundtrack. |
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just found this on utv. it heads the super league review, basically reviewing the aftermath but looking at donny in a positive light.
http://www.u.tv/Sport/Super-League-Set- ... bdea75cbf6 (Mods feel free to move this to another thread, wasnt sure if this warrents a new thread or not), i think its a bloody good article Super League Set of Six: Round 13 Text Size: A A | POST A COMMENT | PRINT | SHARE Andy Wilson: The Shaun Leaf scandal aftermath, the best of Devon and are Huddersfield Giants now the entertainers? 1) Another Bloody Sunday The prospect of spending Sunday afternoon in Doncaster assessing the aftermath of the Shaun Leaf scandal didn't seem all that attractive - especially when it turned out that having failed to book a press pass the necessary five days in advance, it would cost 12 quid to get in. But that represented rather good value for a reminder of the appeal of watching rugby league at the lowest professional level. The game itself was absorbing, as the Doncaster players strained every sinew to end a grim week with a morale-boosting win against a Keighley team who are challenging for promotion from Division One of the Championship. They were good value for a 14-4 half-time lead, and although the loss of their impressive full-back Mick Butterfield hit them hard as the Cougars nudged ahead with two tries in the first six minutes of the second half, Donny regained the advantage when the chunky loose forward Mike Emmett plunged over with seven minutes remaining. It took two moments of inspiration from Jason Demetriou, the Australian who gave such outstanding service to Wakefield Trinity before joining Keighley as player-coach during the winter, to deny Doncaster the victory their efforts deserved. First his clever kick to the right wing led to the Dons wing Stewart Sanderson being sent to the sin bin for holding back the Cougars flier Gavin Duffy, and then it was Demetriou who capitalised on that numerical advantage by stepping over for the match-winning try. Fortunately, the DNA of the Doncaster club ensures that they will battle on, both from Sunday's disappointment and the damaging off-field publicity that preceded it. The coach Tony Miller, who has been with the club for the best part of two decades, led the players across the pitch to salute their hard core of loyal supporters before kick-off, in a fitting "We're-all-in-this-together" gesture, and spoke eloquently afterwards about their determination to move on from the Leaf affair. Beneath the stand the officials of the Supporters' Trust who sponsor Leaf were still slightly stunned by the controversy surrounding such a popular and wholehearted player - although it hadn't stopped them having a good time at Friday's fund-raising comedy night. They squeezed a fiver out of me for their sponsored walk to Rochdale before their away game against the Hornets in July, and a couple reminisced colourfully on the rare highs but mostly lows of supporting the club. No mention of rugby league in Doncaster is complete without a reference to Another Bloody Sunday, the Yorkshire Televison documentary made in 1980, when the team ended a record losing run with a win at Huyton on the last day of the season. The last unexpected bonus of Sunday's trip to the Keepmoat was the discovery that the programme has made it to You Tube, in five parts, complete with the perfect Prokofiev soundtrack. |
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