Hornets' complete inability to deal effectively with his pick 'n' mix barrrage of aerial attacks gave Doncaster enough scraps to feed on to create a gluttonous feast of points.

Hornets got an early taste of what was to come just four minutes in. Holroyd hoisted the kick and the Hornets cover prevaricated just long enough for Royston to touch down.

But Hornets served up a reposte with their first meaningful attack: Paul Owen running an acute angle to score; Mark McCully adding the touchline extras.

With referee Hewer's somewhat liberal policing of the 10 metres and Hornets intent on spewing easy posession to their opponents, Doncaster gained momentum. Needless to say it was another Holroyd kick that left the Hornets defence in disarray for Newlove to score. On 20 minutes a Holroyd kick through gave Doncaster good field position and, from the resulting posession, Ross bounced through indecisive tacklers and Holroyd added the two to take Doncaster 18-6 in front.

On 25 minutes another kick from the Lakers' out-half saw McCully and Owen collide as they dived in to cover. McCully walked gingerly away from the pile up; Owen carried from the field with suspected broken ribs.

But this proved the spur Hornets needed. A shuffle of the backline to accommodate Paul Anderson gave Hornets a more determined look (indeed, his first contribution of the game was to give Holroyd a smack as he coughed the ball under pressure).

On the half hour, Hornets worked the ball upfield where Sam Butterworth turned on the dancing feet to shimmy through a mesmerised defence and plant the ball by the posts. McCully converted.

Seven minutes later, Andy Gorski punched a huge hole in the Lakers' line and fed Phil Cantillon into enough space for him to outpace the cover and score from 40 metres. McCully, again, good with the boot.

Two minutes later, Cantillon returned the favour, his pass slotting Gorski in to give Hornets an unlikely 18-22 lead at the break.

The second sitting started much like the first. Holroyd heaving another bomb skywards; Hornets defenders flapping and flailing in traffic; Ross capitalising to score. Doncaster back in front.

With the game degenerating into a stop-start penalty-fest (22 in all from whistle-happy Mr Hewer), the game became disjointed, but Hornets persisted in playing simple direct football. Just past the hour, a Firth grubber pinballed around the Lakers' defence; Cantillon was first to react and he pounced to touch down. McCully converting and Hornets now in the box seat at 24-28.

But having clawed back the lead, Hornets' defence went AWOL on 69 minutes when Jordan mugged Hornets for a sucker try. Holroyd converting to take the Lakers back in front at 30-28.

Hornets dug deep and a sublime show and go from Cantillon saw him gallop half the length of the field to be hauled down just short. Some unnecessary arsing around in the tackle saw Hornets given a penalty right in front; the Lakers' full-back Royston dispatched for ten minutes for offering his opinion on Mr Hewer's decision.

McCully banged over the penalty to tie the scores at 30-all with ten minutes remaining.

Doncaster's persistent borderline adherence to the offside rule finally came back to bite them when half of the team was pulled at the restart. Hornets piled the ball downfield and went in search of the win. But where cool heads and quick hands might have exploited the numerical advantage up Doncaster's exposed right flank, Matt Firth opted to hoof the ball out on the full with tackles to spare.

With Hornets scrambling to get back into a defensive formation, Lakers' winger Colton took off on a mazy 60 metre run that had Hornets in all sorts of trouble. Patterson was first on the scene, dragging him to ground 30 metres from the posts. Mr Hewer listened to the voices in his head and gave a penalty for a high tackle; Holroyd said 'thanks' and banged over the penalty to give Doncaster a 32-30 lead with two minutes to go.

Having recovered the ball Hornets strove desperately to create a viable chance. Indeed, the ball was flung across the line as the hooter sounded; but as the final pass of the game was forced to ground, Doncatsers' Mills picked up the gift and strolled in to put the icing on a quite amazing game.

Ultimately, Hornets gave Doncaster enough cheap possession for them to have the lion's share of the ball. Poor options, stodgy handling and daft penalties at key moments all lapped up by the Lakers.

"We had a second half completion rate of 42% - it shows we played badly" said Darren Abram afterwards. In reality, Doncaster had one tactic - hoist the ball and see what happens. Unfortunately, Hornets fell for it repeatedly and it's Doncaster who make the unpalatable trip to Hull KR.