Whitehaven head coach Gary Charlton praised his side’s attitude and resilience after they beat Doncaster 22-12 at the LD Nutrition Stadium.

Two tries from Carl Forster put Haven in control, before Andrew Bulman’s late effort took the game away from their play-off chasing opponents.

The victory takes Charlton’s side three points clear of second-placed Oldham, and he says his players have shown in recent weeks their commitment to the cause.

“We’ve gone up against a really good side and show great levels of application which is the thing that pleases me most,” said Charlton.

“We’ve been missing some of our best back-rowers for the past two games, so to get a result like that shows the mentality in the group.

“Doncaster have been in some good form recently but we managed to really put them under pressure, we had to be patient for points to come our way but when we got the opportunities we took them.

“We’re in a race for promotion and have good sides chasing us and we know that at this stage of the season it’s about picking up results and then going again the week after.”

Forster’s tries came either side of half-time after scores from Sam Doherty and Rangi Chase had put the home side in a commanding position.

Charlton felt the prop-forward and the rest of the pack were the difference between the two sides, as so often has been the case in 2019.

“We know what Carl is about and he showed today what he brings to our team, he was good in attack and defence along with the lads around him,” he added.

“We said at half-time that we needed to get on the front foot early, we perhaps didn’t expect to score so quickly but it put us in a really good position to go on and win the game.”