Thursday 19 May 2016 10:38, UK
Bristol are 80 minutes from the promised land of the Premiership after beating Doncaster 28-13 in the first leg of the Championship final at Castle Park.
Doncaster threw everything they had at favourites Bristol in the first half and went into the break 13-11 up with a try from centre Will Hurrell which was converted by Dec Cusack, who also added two penalties.
But David Lemi, Ross McMillan and Ben Glynn scored tries for Bristol with Callum Sheedy kicking two conversions and adding three penalties.
Doncaster made a lively start and had the first chance for points when the visitors were penalised at the first scrum. Cusack stepped up and made no mistake with his kick to give the hosts a third-minute lead.
Bristol placed the Knights under considerable pressure but some ferocious tackling kept them at bay and a misdirected line-out throw from McMillan allowed Doncaster to temporarily relieve the pressure before a Sheedy penalty drew the visitors level.
After 22 minutes, and against the run of play, Doncaster scored the opening try of the game. A driving line-out put the Bristol defence on the back foot and allowed Michael Heaney to send Hurrell in under the posts.
Sheedy replied with a second penalty after Doncaster were penalised for illegally halting an impressive 30-metre drive, but the visitors soon suffered a blow when Varndell was yellow carded for taking Heaney out in the air.
It mattered little as Bristol continued to dominate the half and deservedly took the lead when strong runs from Marco Mama and Jack Lam created the opportunity for Lemi to squeeze in at the corner. Sheedy missed the conversion before a Cusack penalty put Doncaster 13-11 up at the break.
Lemi was injured after being tackled in the air by Andy Bulumakau five minutes after half-time and the Bristol skipper was replaced by Matthew Morgan moments before McMillan burst away from a line-out to score the away side's second try.
Minutes later, Bristol had their third when Will Cliff tore through a huge gap in the home line-out to put in Glynn.
Sheehy kicked a third penalty in the final quarter as Bristol emphasised their superiority on the night to make them firm favourites to return to the Premiership for the first time since 2009.
Watch Bristol v Doncaster, Wed May 25, 7.30pm, Sky Sports 1 HD. You can also watch with NOW TV for £6.99. No contract.
