Doncaster’s dramatic last gasp win at Keighley Cougars set up a trip to Derwent Park on Sunday in the League One play-off final.
The try to level the scores came just after the final hooter and Jake Sweeting landed a touchline conversion to send Doncaster on their way to West Cumbria at the weekend.
It’s a ground where they have already won this season (26-24), a fact Town coach Chris Thorman acknowledged as he assessed the prospect of hosting the final.
He told Cumbria Crack: “We’ll be coming up against a very confident Doncaster side that have probably been the best side we’ve faced this season, so we’ll have to be at our best to beat them.
“We have the advantage of playing at Derwent Park in front of our fantastic supporters and I know they’ll be going all out to make sure they get us over the line. There’s so much at stake and I’ve not been this excited for a game in a very long time.”
Thorman had guided Town to second place in League One behind neighbours Barrow and knows how important it is to join them and Whitehaven in the Championship for next season.
He said: “What a challenging year it’s been, with COVID being the main contributor to that, but I couldn’t be prouder of the squad.
“We knew heading into 2021 what a competitive league it was going to be and that we’d have to be consistent every single week if we were going to give ourselves a chance of promotion.
“Apart from a couple of blips along the way, the way our relatively inexperienced side have dealt with adversity is a great sign for the future. Opportunity has been a key word we’ve used throughout our campaign and we’ve got one more week of preparation to realise the opportunity of playing in the Championship next year.
“We’ve always focused on ourselves and the play-offs have been no different. I’m a big believer in controlling the controllables and we’ve had success this year when we’ve done exactly that.”
The final will be at Derwent Park on Sunday with a 1pm kick-off.
