York Knights are through to the quarter finals of the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup, after a 32-20 win over Halifax Panthers at the LNER Community Stadium.
After a good start and building a 28 point lead, they withstood a comeback from Halifax, who closed the gap to just eight points in the second half.
However, a late try from Kieran Buchanan gave the Knights enough breathing space to hold on for the win and move into the next round.
The Knights opened the scoring when Levi Edwards was put into space in the corner by Jesse Dee. Paul McShane had the kicking duties in place of the absent Will Dagger, and he added the conversion from the touchline.
They quickly followed with another try, when Louis Jouffret lost the ball near his own line and Sam Cook pounced to scamper over from five metres out. McShane again converted.
Jack Potter was next to cross the line, after fast hands from Liam Harris and Oli Field on the last of the set. The full back arched his way around the defence, and while McShane’s kick hit the post, the Knights were 16 points up in as many minutes.
After finding chances hard to come by, Halifax’s first points eventually came after a York error set them up 10 metres out. Owen Dagnell put a kick through and followed it up to touch down. Jouffret’s conversion attempt also hit the post.
In contrast, York were looking confident with ball in hand and extended their lead again through Jesse Dee, who took a bullet of a pass from Ata Hingano to charge through to score. With McShane off the field, Harris took over the kicking tee and added the extras.
As the seconds ticked by at the end of the first half, Halifax put the York line under pressure, but more solid defence maintained the Knights’ 18 point advantage at the break.
The second half started with more Knights pressure, after Jouffret dropped a high bomb in his own 10 metre area. Taylor Pemberton capitalised, scooting over from acting half, and Harris tagged on the goal.
Former Knight, James Saltonstall found space down the wing to cross for ‘Fax on the back of a York error, but too far out for Jouffret to convert. However, it signalled the start of a momentum shift.
Back to back Halifax errors put York in a good position close to the Halifax line, but an intercepted pass saw Jack Hansen go 80 metres to get another try for the Panthers. This time Jouffret was accurate with the conversion.
Two minutes later, Halifax scored again, when Jouffret won the race to a kick through the defensive line from Ben Tibbs, and converted his own try to narrow the gap to eight points.
The Knights restored some breathing space when McShane put Buchanan in at the corner for an unconverted try, but there was still the potential for more points from either side.
However, the Knights’ firmed up their defence again, and finished strongly.
The end of the game turned bad tempered though, with a couple of flair ups between the sides. It eventually led to Adam Tangata and Sam Cook sin binned, but too late to affect the outcome and the Knights progressed to the quarter finals.
York: Potter, Buchanan, Field, Dee, Edwards, HIngano, Harris, Martin, McShane, Thompson, Reynolds, Bailey, Cook
Subs: Santi, Pemberton, Teanby, Clark
18th Player: Ferreria
Tries: Edwards (5), Cook (9), Potter (13), Dee (32), Pemberton (43), Buchanan (65)
Goals: McShane (2/4), Harris (2/2)
Sin Bin: Cook (79)
Halifax: Jouffret, Tibbs, Dagnall, Hurrell, Saltonstall, Whitby, Hansen, Calcott, Inman, Dixon, Graham, McComb, Tangata
Subs: O’Brien, Hird, Fairbank, Restall
18th Player: Douglas
Tries: Dagnall (23), Saltonstall (50), Hansen (55), Jouffret (27)
Goals: Jouffret (2/4)
Sin Bin: Adam Tangata (79)
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