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Exeter made it two wins in a row in the play offs as a late Danny Gray penalty from 45 metres out gave them a narrow win after an evenly contested game. Away victories had been identified by some as the key to making progress to the semi-finals and Chiefs will have been delighted to have left Castle Park with the spoils ahead of the return visit next weekend by their hosts.

The Knights were tough opponents throughout the game and they certainly had much the better of the early stages. They could have gone ahead after five minutes when they developed a three-man overlap close to the Chiefs’ try-line but failed to convert their advantage. Exeter had some decent possession of their own as the half developed but they were unable to break out of their own territory for much of it but, although they were pegged back, they looked organised and strong in defence.

Doncaster kept their early pressure on the Chiefs and, after a prolonged passage of attacking play on 20 minutes, they won a penalty as Exeter were adjudged offside and fly-half James Brooks opened the scoring with a penalty. From the restart, Exeter put together a sustained attack of their own before Gray kicked a penalty to touch inside the Knight’s 22-metre line for a lineout. A decent rolling maul then followed, as did another penalty, and a repeat kick and lineout before Tom Hayes decided to opt for the three points from yet another penalty which Gray converted. That penalty was quickly wiped out as Doncaster went back ahead soon after as Brooks knocked over another penalty from near on halfway

Exeter opened their try account, and took the lead, after 34 minutes. They had gained decent field position from a penalty kick to touch. From the lineout, a rolling maul rumbled forward before the ball was shipped to Gray who perfectly timed an inside ball for Bryan Rennie ,who spun out of the covering tackle and powered over for a try which Gray converted.

The Chiefs had the wind behind them for the second half but any hopes they might have had for an easier ride were soon extinguished as Doncaster ran in a try just three minutes in. Exeter failed to collect a loose ball from a box kick as it bounced and made its way into the hands of winger Oliver Goss, who sprinted into the corner from 35 metres out; the conversion was missed by Brooks. Exeter regained the lead three minutes later with another Gray penalty after James Scaysbrook and Richie Baxter had combined to nearly score under the posts as Doncaster transgressed offside.

Exeter finally managed to put space between the sides on the scoreboard as they notched up their second try of the game after 52 minutes. Exeter had a lineout 30 metres out from which the ball was moved quickly to Gray and back inside for Rennie to run onto again; Mark Foster and Baxter joined in the move before passing to Phil Dollman, who was held up just short of the line. Exeter managed to keep possession and, from a pile of bodies on the ground, Nic Sestaret sneaked the ball over the line from a prone position to score in the corner; Gray was unable to convert from wide out.

Doncaster are a committed bunch and they would certainly not lie down after this blow. They kept coming back at Exeter and Brooks narrowed the gap with another penalty after 58 minutes before they deservedly took the lead 10 minutes later with a try by Andrew Wright. The Knights were camped in the Exeter half and had been passing the ball from side to side and moving the Exeter defence around the field; eventually they created the space to go over in the corner as, with Dollman laying injured, space was found out wide. Again, Brooks missed with the conversion attempt.

Chiefs were now behind by a point and the home side had their tails up. Exeter came back at them and on 75 minutes were awarded a fortuitous penalty just inside the Knight’s half. Gray, who has not had a huge amount of match time during recent weeks, kept his nerve and struck a decent kick between the posts to regain a slender lead.

Chiefs regained possession from the restart and very cleverly kept the ball tight and away from the home side as they ran the clock down to a hard-won victory. The win was well deserved but the Chiefs will know that they can not take these opponents lightly in the return match next week at Sandy Park.

Teams:

Doncaster Knights – Carter (McColl 59mins); Wright, Briers, Armitage, Goss; Brooks, Hallam (N Griffiths 74mins); Toke (Thiede 71mins), Boden (Lawrie 65mins), Ta’u (Cusack 41mins), Kenworthy (capt) (D Griffiths 41mins)), Townson, Cochrane, Grainger, Boyde (Kettle 61mins)

Exeter Chiefs – Dollman; Jess, Sestaret, Rennie (Jones 60mins), Foster; Gray, Thomas; Sturgess, Clark (Alcott 53mins), Budgen (Tui 59mins), Hayes (capt), Hanks (Gannon 71mins), Johnson, Scaysbrook, Baxter

Replacements not used: Andy Miller, Stuart-Smith, Cornwell

Scorers:

Doncaster Knights – Tries: Goss, Wright; Pens: Brooks (3)

Exeter Chiefs – Tries: Rennie, Sestaret; Con: Gray; Pens: Gray (3)

Officials:

Ref – D Richards; TJs – S Makiusin & R Davies

Attendance:

1,050

By Chris Doe