Gateshead 3pts @ 1.5 v Doncaster with Hills or Stan James or Betdirect

Another Thursday National League Sky game and another wager from me. Just like last week I am playing the match odds for two reasons. Firstly the odds of 1.5 relate to a handicap of 5pts and the best on offer is -6pts so slightly better value there and also I get the luxury of just needing the win rather than needing to cover the start.
Now for the reasoning. Gateshead are champions, they will be awarded the trophy following the game. There is no way they will be taking their foot off the pedal.  Gateshead are unbeaten at home bar an early season loss to Barrow who should be runners up. Since that day Gateshead have come on leaps and bounds and were misisng chief playmaker Danny Russell on that occassion. They are a workmanlike team who do all the basics right. Their defence is very strong and they have a good kicking game. Not the fastest team in the league but they do score plenty of tries with the field position their kicking game gives them. Their confidence is sky high and there seems to be a lot of team spirit in the camp.
As for Doncaster the best they can now hope to finish is fourth which will give them two bites of the cherry in the play-offs. Defeat in this fixture will not hamper those ambitions as they have two home fixtures to follow and two wins would still secure that berth.
Doncaster's away form is patchy a best and they have suffered defeats at virtually all the play-off contenders; Barrow, Oldham, Keighley, Rochdale and Workington. There's nothing in those results to suggest that they can turn Gateshead over.
The game is being played at Newcastle Rugby Union club in an effort to produce more publicity for the team so perhaps Gateshead won't have the familiar home surroundings they are used to but they play in front of pitiful crowds for a team that has done so well so there is no real crowd advantage in any case. Perhaps the new surroundings can help bring in some new followers and they get an attendance to match their season's performances.
I had Gateshead by 8-10pts.
 
the man