MATCH REPORT: Doncaster RLFC 30-12 London Broncos
Jake Watson • 25 May 2025
MATCH REPORT: Doncaster RLFC 30-12 London Broncos
It was another defeat for London Broncos on the road as in-form Doncaster put on an impressive second-half performance to take points.
Prior to the match, Doncaster hadn’t beaten the Broncos in 31 years. However, when this game kicked off there was no doubt the Dons would be favourites to end that long run. Richard Horne’s side came into this game off the back of a standout win over high flying Halifax whilst Mike Eccles team were looking to end a run of five consecutive defeats.
The opening exchanges were physical and both sides made errors but neither could carve open any chances of note. The Broncos had in fairness the slightly better of the exchanges but the kicking was inaccurate and not building the pressure that was needed.
In Edene Gebbie, Doncaster had one of the in-form players in the competition, and was always the likely man to break the deadlock. That proved to be the case in the 22nd minute when the ball was swept out to the Doncaster left-hand side and when Gebbie simply stepped back inside it was enough to fool the Broncos defence who were unable to change their direction quickly enough. The PNG man had plenty of space to run through and touch down pretty close to the posts to leave a relatively simple conversion. DONS 6-0 BRONCOS.
Despite going behind it spurred the Broncos into action and instantly found themselves with good-ball sets. In the 27th minute they got on the scoresheet as the ball was moved swiftly to the left-hand side and Binks with a delicate flat pass to Aarron Small who had enough momentum to carry himself over. It wasn’t a straightforward conversion but Hellec just snuck the kick over despite the winds best efforts to pull it short. DONS 6-6 BRONCOS.
For the rest of the first-half it was the Broncos who kept pressurizing the Dons defence. Tindall and Polselli were looking lively and were running hard which was the launchpad for lots of the better attack. Following a Broncos penalty where Binks kicked deep into the Dons 20 it was Lovell who nearly scored again but he was stopped a couple of metres short. The resulting play saw Binks go for the delicate grubber but it was scuffed and the opportunity was lost. However, the pressure was seeing the home side make mistakes and a high tackle in the 39th minute resulted in another Broncos penalty and understandably opted to kick from 25 metres out. Hellec confidently struck the ball and on the half-time hooter it was a 6-8 lead.
The second-half of games have proven the sticking point for the Broncos this season with a number of games slipping away from minutes 40-80. The half got off to a pretty bad start as the kick-off was knocked on by the Broncos and despite defending the resulting set, during the opening minute Liam Tindall picked up an injury and hobbled off and wasn’t able to return. Chris Ball would play the rest of the game in the unfamiliar position on the wing.
Despite the adversity of the opening minutes it was the Broncos who had the best chance to get the first points of the half. The ball made its way out to Hellec who was too far out to take it the distance but a smart kick saw both Barley and Polselli in hot pursuit but the Dons were able to knock the ball dead. From the goalline dropout Broncos launched another attack but a poor decision from Walker to run it instead of moving the ball through the hands when it looked like they had a man over saw the chance go begging.
The middles had so far played almost all the minutes with only Ross rotating with Worthington before the 50th minute. However, Hursey-Hord was now introduced to give Adebiyi a much needed breather.
Broncos had been looking the most likely to score but in Gebbie and Watson Boas, Doncaster having some x-factor and with space will punish you. A break straight up the middle produced a two on one scenario and Boas was quick enough to race away and score under the sticks. DONS 12-8 BRONCOS.
Just five minutes later the home side would extend the lead with an almost carbon copy try with the break coming through the middle and the offload creating huge space in the Broncos defence. Polselli again outnumbered and this time Smeaton went under the sticks to score. DONS 18-6 BRONCOS.
It was beginning to have that sinking feeling again and with the win now looking unlikely the Broncos had to show some fight with just over 15 minutes of the game remaining. Binks and Walker kicked a lot better in the second half building some all important pressure but in truth Broncos carved out few meaningful chances. Connor Barley, who had put in a strong performance on debut, pushed for a try in the 68th minute but was tackled by a pair of Dons defenders a couple of metres short.
Monk was introduced for Davies in the 70th minute but frustratingly the home side's lead was almost immediately extended as Boas would score again and Robinson’s faultless conversions brought the score to 24-8 and the points pretty much safe. Just to be extra sure Doncaster went for the jugular and a grubber to Gebbie saw a downbeat Broncos defence breached once more. 30-8.
Despite the result already determined, Broncos carried on right until the 80th minute and Monk would get his second try of the season with almost the final play of the game. The Dons slow to react to a quick play the ball, Monk spotted a gap and made sure the Broncos would make it to double digits for the afternoon. Final score Dons 30-12 Broncos.
BRONCOS; Polselli, Hellec, Small, Barley, Tindall, Walker, Binks, Worthington, Davies, Adebiyi, Lovell, Natoli, Stock. INTERCHANGES; Monk, Hursey-Hord, Ross & Ball
MATCHDAY GUIDE
MATCH PREVIEW: London Broncos vs Doncaster RLFC London Broncos are back in action on Saturday as we play the second of two games in 2025 at Ebbsfleet's Kuflink Stadium. The Broncos delivered one of the standout results of last weekend beating Halifax Panthers 20-14 to secure back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Mike Eccles has an impressive record as a coach in Ebbsfleet and will once again be looking to the list of wins when Doncaster are the visitors on Saturday, 12th (5pm KO). SQUAD INFO Mike Eccles has named his 21-man squad for this weekend’s round 17 Championship tie with Doncaster RLFC at Ebbsfleet’s Kuflink Stadium (5pm KO). In what is a very strong looking squad Huw Worthington returns after getting married last week. Meanwhile, Louix Gorman, Taylor Kerr and Kian McDermott join Jack Smith as dual-reg players available for selection on Saturday.
WATCH US LIVE! London Broncos vs Doncaster RLFC Can’t join us in Ebbsfleet this Saturday? We’ve got you covered! Watch the game from the comfort of your own home from the link below Scroll down to watch back the win over Halifax at Ebbsfleet... #WeAreLondon
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: London Broncos vs Doncaster RLFC Mike Eccles has named his 21-man squad for this weekend’s round 17 Championship tie with Doncaster RLFC at Ebbsfleet’s Kuflink Stadium (5pm KO). In what is a very strong looking squad Huw Worthington returns after getting married last week. Meanwhile, Louix Gorman, Taylor Kerr and Kian McDermott join Jack Smith as dual-reg players available for selection on Saturday.
Twelve teams from six different clubs will compete in the Semi-Finals this weekend
IT'S GAMEWEEK London Broncos are back in action on Saturday as we play the second of two games in 2025 at Ebbsfleet's Kuflink Stadium. The Broncos delivered one of the standout results of the weekend beating Halifax Panthers 20-14 to secure back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Mike Eccles has an impressive record as a coach in Ebbsfleet and will once again be looking to the list of wins when Doncaster are the visitors on Saturday, 12th (5pm KO). Tickets for the game can be bought from the link below!
POST-MATCH: MIKE ECCLES FOLLOWING HALIFAX WIN You can now watch the full post-match interview with Mike Eccles following the 20-14 win over Halifax Panthers at Ebbsfleet. We return to Ebbsfleet next weekend (Saturday, 12th) tickets can be bought from the link below. #WeAreLondon
LONDON BRONCOS V HALIFAX PANTHERS (by David Ballheimer) London Broncos (12) 20, Halifax Panthers (6) 14 London Broncos produced an excellent all-round performance to defeat Halifax Panthers and move outside of the bottom two. Backing up last week’s rout of Hunslet, this victory was built on outstanding defence. That said, apart from 15 minutes in the first half and a short while at the beginning of the second, they were the better team on both sides of the ball. The Panthers started very well, aided by a penalty close to the London line. Hooker Adam O’Brien, going from dummy half, sensed a lack of certainty in the Broncos’ defensive line and burst through a large gap and scored the opening try, improved by Jack Hansen. Another repeat set gave Halifax another chance to get over the line but this time, the London defensive line was ready for dummy-half runs and both O’Brien and the much larger Adam Tangata were repelled. In the 11th minute, Connor O’Beirne launched a bomb that came down close to the Halifax line. A Broncos leaper pushed the ball backwards to Alex Walker, who put in a grubber which Luke Polselli almost reached but failed to ground the ball. From the seven-tackle set, Fax went a long way downfield, benefitting from a penalty, too, but the goalline defence was good enough to repel another O’Brien snipe. Halifax, it must be said, were far less of a threat when Tom Inman replaced O’Brien in the No.9 role. Brandon Webster-Mansfield thought he had scored his first try in a London shirt after 18 minutes, but his interception, which did hit the ground, was ruled a knock-on. Webster-Mansfield, however, and team-mates close to the incident, were convinced that the ball had bounced off the centre’s forehead not his hands or arms. The referee and his assistants were not convinced.
HIGHLIGHTS: London Broncos vs Halifax Panthers You can now watch back extended highlights of the 2025 Championship fixture between London Broncos and Halifax Panthers at Ebbsfleet's Kuflink Stadium. #WeAreLondon
Matchday Guide We are excited to be able to share the matchday guide with you for our match on Saturday to ensure you have the best possible experience backing the Broncos against Halifax Panthers. Important times to note: 15:00- Gates open. 15:00 – Hospitality opens 17:00- London Broncos vs Halifax Panthers KO 17:40- London Broncos vs Halifax Panthers HT 18:35- London Broncos vs Halifax Panthers FT 19:30 – Hospitality Last Orders 20:00 – Hospitality Closes Travel Travelling by train, you can get to Ebbsfleet Station in 18 minutes on the super-fast train from St Pancras with 3 trains an hour. Exit the station and walk via Car Park C and it’s a short walk to the Kuflink Stadium. Along the way, there are signposts for ‘The Fleet’ that will guide you to the stadium. Parking is available at Ebbsfleet International Train Station. Sat Nav: DA11 9GN Home Fans/Away Fans Please may all fans enter through the main gate. From this point, you will need your ticket with the barcode, which is going to be scanned as you enter. You can bring bags into the stadium but they will be checked by security/stewards upon entry. Season ticket holders will also access the stadium via the main gate using their membership card. Hospitality Please may all those attending the game in an Legends Lounge /Broncos Bar make sure that they are entering through the Main Reception which will be open from 3pm. Seating Seating is unreserved with the exception of the padded hospitality seating either side of the team dugouts which is for hospitality guests and directors. We advise any guests with pre-match hospitality to sit in blocks H-K for ease of access to the upstairs bar. Disabled seating is located in the main stand and can be accessed via the disabled lift to the left of the turnstiles. Ticket Office Our ticket office is located at next to the main reception via the ticketing window for purchases on the day. Food & Drink The Rose pub in Ebbsfleet will be open from 11am just a short walk from the Stadium. At the Stadium, the main social bar will be open as well as the Eat Street for a range of food and drink options. The Fleet Kiosk in the main stand will be open for teas, coffees, soft drinks and light bites. The club hospitality bar will be reserved for hospitality guests pre-match but will be open for half time and full time drinks purchases for all fans. Club Shop The club shop will be situated in the fanzone. Home and away shirts will be available for purchase. If you have any further questions please email lynsey.coleman@londonbroncosrl.com If you still haven’t got your ticket yet, you can get your ticket NOW by clicking the link below
