York City Knights: Battling Knights secure Rhinos victory

New signing Jordan Tansey made his Knights debut against the Rhinos

A superb second half display from the York City Knights at Huntington Stadium this afternoon secured a pre-season victory against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos.

A sparse crowd of 546 was treated to a good display of solid, sustained, attacking rugby from the Knights in the second 40 minutes after a slightly abject first half display, but overall the victory was deserved and will serve as an excellent confidence boost for York as they move closer to the start of the season.

Leeds opened the scoring against the run of play on 6 minutes when Jimmy Watson burst through the York defensive line to latch onto Sean Casey’s kick, but the Knights were quick to respond and found their first score of the afternoon four minutes later. After good work at the break-down, they were quick to get the ball wide, finding Dave Sutton on the left wing in acres space and with ample time to beat the last line of Rhinos defence to claw points back for the home side.

The Knights soon found themselves behind again, when on 25 minutes fast hands from the Rhinos found Jamel Chisholm on the left side, and after breaking through two tackles the Leeds man was left with 22 metres of clear space to run into for the easiest try. Subsequent pressure from the Rhinos could have easily resulted in more points but for some stalwart last ditch defending, and the home side would have been glad to get into the dressing room trailing by just 8 points.

The second half saw the introduction of Knights new boy Jordan Tansey, and the impact that he had on the game will have left York fans excited for the season ahead. The number 15 was on hand to play his part in the first Knights try of the second half, using fast hands out of the tackle to feed Jack Lee, who broke through the Leeds defence to score on 46 minutes. The young Rhinos side were quick to respond again though, with Aaron Brown finding the corner of the York try line on 54 minutes.

Three minutes later and York reduced the deficit to a single point. After excellent work from Tansey in the centre, York pushed the ball wide and Dave Sutton was on hand to score his second try of the match. More sustained pressure from the Knights resulted in another try on 61 minutes when Adam Howard broke through a succession of tackles to power home under the posts, and the subsequent conversion from James Haynes pushed the home side into the lead for the first time in the match. Another try on 72 minutes from Adam Sullivan eliminated the possibility of a nerve wracking finale, securing a 26-18 victory.

View from the dressing room –

York City Knights Player/Head Coach Chris Thorman told The Yorker – “I expected the first half performance to be better; we were too flat and quiet. But in the second half I thought we played with much more enthusiasm and the players did what we practised during the week. In the pre-season, performances are more important than results but it’s nice to have the win and it’s a good habit to get into. I thought Jordan Tansey was excellent today; he threatens the line and demands that other players do the same. I’m looking forward to playing with him as the season progresses.”

Leeds Rhinos Under 20’s coach Chris Plume told The Yorker – “Half time came at the wrong point for us. In the first half we were pretty strong and dominated the game, but a really determined York team came out in the second half and soon the momentum was against us. We’re playing 18, 19 and 20 year olds today, and our young players didn’t quite have the answers to turn that momentum around. It’s a good lesson for them though and they will learn a lot from the game today.”

Knights Team - Haynes, Pryce, Ford, Elliot, Sutton, Turner, Williams, Sullivan, Lee, Benson, Clarke, Houston, Aldous.

Replacements - Hellewell, Tansey, Broughton, Howard, Gay, Smith, Burns.

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