Nottingham suffered their first defeat of the season away to Doncaster Knights, despite shooting ahead to a 12-point lead within the first five minutes.

The two early tries were punched in by Jordan Olowofela, who was playing in his first game back from injury, and David Williams.

However, Doncaster’s forwards began to control possession and with Nottingham giving away a number of penalties, they eventually got a try of their own through centre Connor Edwards.

The Knights took the lead right before the half time interval, with the aggressive number eight Harry Wilson getting over the line 

Doncaster picked up right where they left off after the break and quickly added two more tries through flanker Rhys Tait and fly-half Sam Olver who joined a driving maul and claimed the bonus point try.

Olver’s contribution did not stop there, and while he should have scored more points from the tee, the Knights captain did strike 10 points which were invaluable in such a close game and against a team that tried to attack non-stop in the wet.

Nottingham’s first defeat by four tries to three can be attributed partly to conceding 15 penalties, but nevertheless they threatened Doncaster’s defence regularly.

Playing with lots of pace and moving the ball wide, Sam Hollingsworth scored a thrilling try in the 58th minute and with Bunting converting, Nottingham cut Doncaster’s lead to 30-19 with plenty of time left.

However, the Green and Whites were unable to get over the line for a fourth time. They face a big challenge in their next game, as they will be welcoming current table-toppers Ealing Trailfinders to the Bay in two weeks time.