York Knights are still looking for the first win of the season in the Betfred Championship after a 10-18 defeat by Halifax Panthers at the LNER Community Stadium.
In a game which had its fair share of errors, the Knights were always trailing on the scoreboard but a late comeback sparked hopes of snatching the victory.
However, a late try from Brandon Douglas in the final minute meant York couldn’t go on to take the points.
York had to deal with a late team reshuffle, with Will Dagger pulling up in the warm up.
However, they had the first chance of the game, going close when a grubber to the corner was almost touched down. Two consecutive drop outs followed from under the Halifax posts but a dropped ball meant the pressure came to nothing.
It was Halifax who went on to open the scoring, when George Whitby kicked through and took advantage of a fortunate bounce to cross the whitewash for a try converted by Louis Jouffret.
Jouffret extended the lead when York were penalised for a ball steal. He stepped up and slotted over the goal for the extra two points.
A late challenge on Liam Harris saw Zack McComb sin binned for the Panthers after 18 minutes. With them reduced to 12, York moved the ball wide, only for Ben Jones-Bishop to knock on as he went in for what would have been a try on his second debut for the Knights.
More pressure followed from Halifax, but the score remained 8-0 to the visitors at half time.
Not long after the restart, Jouffret showed a lovely dummy to open up space to score. His conversion attempt hit the post, as did a penalty attempt after York were penalised again for a ball steal.
For the Knights, Oli Field was held up, and Joe Brown was beaten to a Hingano grubber in the ‘Fax in goal area, but the Panthers were handling whatever York could muster in attack with some solid defence.
Eventually, the Knights found space down the right hand wing, with Jones-Bishop getting the try he’d been hunting. Harris pulled the conversion wide.
It triggered their best spell of the game, and they scored again when Hingano released Edwards, who slipped the ball to Field to go charging through. Harris’ conversion reduced the gap to two points with six minutes remaining.
However, a ball steal from Brandon Douglas near the York line in the last minute saw the forward spin and crash in to make sure the points went back to West Yorkshire.
York: Brown, Jones-Bishop, Buchanan, Field, Edwards, Hingano, Harris, Thompson, McShane, Santi, Dee, Bailey, Cook
Subs (all used): Pemberton, Teanby, Reynolds, Clark
18th Player: Ferreria
Tries: Jones-Bishop (65), Field (73)
Goals: Harris (1/2)
Halifax: Jouffret, Tibbs, Hurrell, Crooks, Saltonstall, Woodburn-Hall, Whitby, Douglas, O’Brien, Dixon, McComb, Tangata, Fairbank
Subs (all used): Hansen, Hird, Calcott, Graham
18th Player: Davies
Tries: Whitby (16), Jouffret (44), Douglas (79)
Goals: Jouffret (2/4), Whitby (1/1)
Sin Bin: McComb (18)
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