CLAYTON put up a valiant fight in their Yorkshire Men's League Division Four clash before going down 42-18 to Doncaster Toll Bar.

The hosts set out to take the game to Doncaster and were first on the scoreboard. A high up and under had visiting fullback Jordan King in all sorts of trouble, resulting in him fumbling the ball.

From the subsequent scrum Eliot McElroy buried his way under the sticks to make it 4-0. Jake Samiociuk-Barnes stepped up to successfully add the extras.

Clayton's lead was short lived however as just two minutes later Doncaster attacked down their left hand side and when winger Nathan Morton took a ball from around his boots, he was able to touch down. Kieron Lawton slotted over the difficult conversion.

The game ebbed and flowed with Clayton fullback Karl Robinson unlucky not to score when after a successful ball steal, being held just short.

Successive penalties to Doncaster for use of the elbow and an illegal ball steal then put them in great field position. Loose forward Mitch Garrity took a short ball and shrugged off a would-be tackler to cross under the sticks. Lawton again added the extras to further extend their advantage.

With the half coming to a close, Clayton tried to make last use of the significant slope in their favour and applied more and more pressure.

Their efforts were rewarded when the home side moved the ball out to their left flank where former Bulls and Cougars player Jamel Goodall slipped a neat pass to allow winger Bradley Brannan to crash over.

The kick was missed but Clayton drew level before half-time when Doncaster sent the ball sailing straight out of play from the restart and Jack Bowman made it 12-12 with the subsequent penalty.

Alarm bells were soon ringing for Clayton in the second half when Doncaster forward Alex Cross was held up over the line and then, despite being clean through, King inexplicably dropped the ball.

That luck didn't last though and on 45 minutes Dave Cowell found space out wide to barge over. Lawton again hit the target and Doncaster were back in front 18-12.

The visitors began to force the pace and it was no surprise when Garrity found scrum half Dom Riley with a short ball and he skipped over.

A further conversion from Lawton gave Doncaster a seemingly comfortable lead at 24-12. However, Clayton have great spirit and fought back once again.

McElroy made a superb break up the middle to outpace the Doncaster defence and touchdown. Samiociuk-Barnes slotted over the conversion and Clayton were back in the game at 24-18.

The game was up for grabs in the last quarter but it was to be the visitors who proved stronger, finishing with three unanswered converted tries.

Stand out players on the day for Clayton were McElroy, who worked tirelessly all afternoon and Goodall, who made some eye-catching runs out wide. Bowman also marshalled the troops well from the scrum-half position.