LINCOLN LADIES 34
DONCASTER DEMONS 5
WOMEN’S NC 1 NORTH (SOUTH)

Shannon Pasotti grabbed a brace of tries as league leaders Lincoln continued their push for the league title by gaining revenge on Doncaster Demons with a 34-5 win at Longdales Park.

Rachell Dutton, Nicole Allison, Lucy Ellis and Izzy Rowson also scored tries for Lincoln and Lorna Mckinlay successfully slotted over two conversions.

Lincoln went into the match having won nine out of 10 league games, with their only defeat coming in a narrow 12-10 loss at Doncaster on the opening weekend of the season.

The hosts, who saw vice captain Abigail Lee deputise as skipper in the absence of the injured Emily Hird, were determined to put things right and made sure they were on the right end of the result this time around.

Lincoln fell behind after 15 minutes when the Doncaster winger won the chase to a kick over the top to score an unconverted try in front of the posts.

The hosts started to put more pressure on inside the opposition half and, after a scrum, the ball was moved left. Doncaster initially stopped the attack, but Lincoln shipped the ball quickly right and, as they went over the 22, a brilliant offload by Jade Morgan set up Dutton to go over for an unconverted try.

Although Doncaster were scrummaging well, Lincoln managed to get the ball out from a scrum before a bouncing pass from Morgan set up Dutton. Dutton ran towards the full-back and, as she took the contact, she offloaded the ball to Pasotti, who ran in for a try on the edge of the 15 metre channel.

In the last play of the half, some brilliant play by Lincoln saw them go through the phases and outstrip the opposition going down the right-hand side of the pitch. Allison ran onto a pass from Dutton and burst through a big hole in the defence, before powering through the full-back to score a try.

Doncaster then saw a player sent to the sin bin for talking back to the referee as Lincoln took a 15-5 lead into the break.

Dutton, Morgan and Pasotti combined and ran a great move, which led to Lincoln’s first try of the second half. The move ended with Pasotti running onto a great line and battering the full-back out of the way to score her second try of the match.

Doncaster, who were already on a team warning for high tackles, then saw one of their centres given a yellow card.

Lincoln made the most of having an extra player and soon scored another try. After a good amount of pressure inside the Doncaster 22, the visitors gave away a series of penalties. After a quick tap penalty, Ellis ran an amazing line onto a pass by Hannah ‘Midge’ Kelley to crash over for a try, which Mckinlay converted.

A good move off the back of a scrum then set up Rowson who ran 40 metres to score a great try under the posts, which Mckinlay converted to complete the scoring.

The result means that Lincoln remain top of the table and are two points clear of title rivals Sheffield Tigers Women, who they travel to face in their final league match of the season on Sunday May 3, 2026.

POST MATCH COMMENT

After the match Lincoln Ladies Head Coach Brian Kelly said: “We knew that the game was going to be hard. Doncaster are a really hard team to break down and have a brutal defence.

"Losing our captain to an ankle injury during Friday night’s, quite frankly unnecessary during a league week, NLD trial game was a little annoying and meant we had to reshuffle the back line accordingly.

“That said, the girls gave their all and refused to let the Doncaster pack impose themselves on the game.

“It took a good 20 minutes before we felt like we could dictate play, such was strength of the Donny defence, but after our second try the girls just kept getting better and better.

“The girls did everybody at the club and themselves proud, and the group are already hyped for next week’s league decider at Sheffield.”