Hartpury 43 Doncaster Knights 14
Hartpury: 15 Alex Morgan, 14 Alex Forrester, 13 Robbie Smith, 12 Tommy Mathews, 11 Ollie Holiday, 10 Harry Bazalgette, 9 Mike Austin; 1 Aristot Benz-Salomon, 2 Will Crane ©, 3 Jon Benz-Salomon, 4 Dale Lemon, 5 Jack Davies, 6 Sam Lewis, 7 Harry Short, 8 Jarrard Hayler
Replacements: 16 Ethan Hunt, 17 James Gibbons, 18 Alex Gibson, 19 Cam Cobbett, 20 Ellis Hart, 21 Josh Gray, 22 Rhys Price, 23 Sam Smith
Doncaster Knights: 15. Billy McBryde (cc), 14 George Simpson, 13 Joe Margetts, 12 Joe Bedlow, 11 Maliq Holden, 10 Sam Olver (cc), 9 Ollie Fox; 1 Conor Davidson, 2 George Roberts, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Charlie Beckett, 5 Ben Murphy, 6 Fyn Brown, 7 Archie Smeaton, 8 Harry Wilson
Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Harrison Courtney, 18 Corrie Barrett, 19 Ehize Ehizode, 20 Evan Mintern, 21 Jack Digby, 22 Will Metcalfe, 23 Jack Metcalf
Attendance: 720
Referee: Jonathan Cook
Half time: 24 – 00 (to Hartpury)
Star Man: Harry Bazalgette (Hartpury)
King Harry seals it for Hartpury
by Luke Jarmyn, at the Hartpury University Stadium
COMETH the hour, cometh the man, was the feeling as Harry Bazalgette didn’t miss a kick to score 23 points off the tee in a relentless display against Doncaster.
Jubilant scenes swept around the picturesque University Stadium at the final whistle as Hartpury grabbed a four-try bonus point win to go above Knights and secure their highest ever finish in the Championship.
The win is also Hartpury’s first home win against the South Yorkshire side since 2017.
Under a bright West Country sun, Doncaster forced the Gloucestershire-side to cough up numerous penalties early on.
But Hartpury held firm, and a ruck penalty saw Bazalgette open the scoring from 30 metres out on the 16th minute.
Then the reds countered from a poor Doncaster kick that missed touch, with fullback Alex Morgan scoring arguably Hartpury’s try of the season with a solo 70-metre effort, high kicking the ball past the blue shirted-line and getting on the end of his grubber by the posts to slide over.
Hartpury skipper Will Crane saw yellow on the 22nd minute for tackling off the ball, but John Barnes’ side held firm and it seemed to make little difference before the home-side grabbed two tries in a four-minute purple patch.
Hartpury’s half-backs quickened the phases and worked down the right to set up wing Alex Forrester who darted over on the right.
Then fellow wing Ollie Holliday chased a loose ball and the recycled ball led to openside Harry Short diving over the try line left of the posts.
The home-side went down to 13-men at the start of the second-half, centre Robbie Smith was yellowed for a tip-tackle before No.8 Jarrard Hayler was sin-binned for illegally stopping a try-scoring opportunity.
Knights pounced, hooker Pete Roberts barrelling over after a dummy on the left, and four minutes later tighthead Corrie Barrett set up scrum-half Ollie Fox to skirt Bazalgette and dot down on the right.
Hartpury worked to get on the right side of the ref, and a break by blindside Sam Lewis almost set up lock Jack Davies, the second-rower’s pace meaning he fell a whisker short of scoring a try.
But Bazalgette kicking four more penalties to keep Hartpury in a commanding position.
And the Dorset man was pivotal again, getting on the end of a smart slight Josh Gray offload to throw wide to Sam Smith with the wing sprinting down the left for Hartpury’s fourth try, sealing a memorable win with the try bonus point.
A beaming Hartpury director of rugby, John Barnes, said afterwards: “I’m really pleased, we spoke a lot about getting this win. Finishing fifth, and above a side like Doncaster, is an outstanding effort for a part-time squad made up of a lot of young players.
“I’m delighted for the whole set-up, from day one to now has been a long season, we’re on the cusp of Summer and still playing, but our standards haven’t dropped, and it shows we’re doing something right.
“It’s really important to get this win, in our final league game. It’s a really family place and we try and make it a family event, and it’s a real thank you to all the people who work tirelessly to make days like today happen, and it’s also a thank you to those staff and players who are departing.
“Looking at the game, we controlled it well, there was a little bit of ill-discipline with yellow cards, but we looked comfortable bar a shaky 10 minutes in the second-half. Scoring five tries and more than 40 points is a fantastic effort, and the right way to end the season.”
Doncaster coach Joe Ford said: “It’s gutting, there’s a lot of boys moving on who have been here a long time and we wanted to send them off in the right way.
“We were off it in the first-half, fought back early in the second but then Hartpury were really clinical even when they were down to 13 men.”
Hartpury:
Tries: Morgan 18, Forrester 33, Short 37, S Smith 79
Conversions: Bazalgette 19, 34, 38, 80
Penalties: Bazalgette 16, 53, 57, 61, 70
Drop goals:
Doncaster Knights:
Tries: Roberts 46, Fox 50
Conversions: Olver 47, 51
Penalties:
Drop Goals:
Stats:
Hartpury:
Penalties 11
Lineouts won 9
Lineouts lost 1
Scrums won 3
Scrums lost 0
Sin Bins / Reds: 3/0
Doncaster Knights:
Penalties 12
Lineouts won: 15
Lineouts lost: 4
Scrums won: 2
Scrums lost: 2
Sin Bins / Reds: 1/0
