The Co-Operative Championship
By The Man

Doncaster v Gateshead



6th September 15:00 BST

I watched Gateshead on Monday evening and was very impressed with them. Their latter half of the season form has been worthy of a play-off place and I have them as one of the better teams in the division. As it is they go in to the final round of fixtures needing a victory to ensure the avoidance of relegation. And who better to play?

Doncaster have had a season to forget. Starting with the resignation, on the day of their play-off victory, of the inspirational Ellery Hanley this season has just gone down and down. They were never able to recruit in a way that a promoted team must and mid season their financial problems came to light. Their better players were quickly off-loaded but it couldn't avoid the slip in to administration and a point’s deduction. Now their average players have also left and what remains is a mixture of youth and players who should be playing at an amateur level. In their last two home fixtures they have been put to the sword by Featherstone and Barrow and the victories have been far in excess of what is offered here.

Co-operative Championship table

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	BP	PTS
1	Barrow	20	13	0	7	632	361	5	44
2	Sheffield	20	11	0	9	635	447	9	42
3	Halifax	19	12	0	7	680	458	4	40
4	Widnes	20	11	0	9	649	438	6	39
5	Whitehaven	19	12	0	7	551	520	3	39
6	Featherstone	19	12	0	7	593	494	0	36
7	Toulouse	19	9	0	10	538	548	3	30
8	Batley	19	7	2	10	506	594	4	29
9	Gateshead	19	8	2	9	554	657	1	29
10	Leigh	19	8	0	11	379	558	5	29
11	Doncaster	19	1	0	18	257	899	5	-1

Gateshead are flying, this is a must win game and they probably have one of the paciest set of backs in the division. I expect Gateshead to run riot and quickly end any lingering relegation doubts. I had Gateshead by 48pts.

Pick: Gateshead -34 4pts @ 1.91 with Skybet or Bet365