Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
York Men’s 1sts continued their promotion push last week with a hard fought 29-7 victory over a Teeside team that had proved tricky opposition to the title contenders thus far.
Teeside did themselves no favours by arriving late and, with the light fading, the referee decided that kick off had to take place as quickly as possible. Three players, including the captain, of the Teeside team were still to arrive and York took full advantage to catch Teeside cold.
Teeside showed constant indiscipline in the opening exchanges and it was from one these infringements that York kicked to the corner and took the lineout. A well-constructed maul against a bigger Teeside pack ended up with Hugh Wigzell going over for York's first try to put York 5-0 up within two minutes. York came straight back at Teeside trying to put the game out of their reach by half-time, and constant pressure and a lack of ball was frustrating Teeside who continued to give away cheap penalties.
A second score within the first ten minutes was inevitable and good work by the forwards gave quick ball to the backs. This was set up on the right touchline and the ball came back to number 8 Ali Handy who ran a superb line before brushing off the full back to score. Warwick Van Der Burrows added the extras and York were 12-0 up within ten minutes.
The three players who had managed to get lost in York finally turned up and the arrival of the captain settled Teeside who began to show signs of the team who had caused league leaders Newcastle so many problems.
The game tightened up and although the York backs continually broke the gain line, poor passing and a lack of communication meant tries which would have finished the game off before half time went begging, and Teeside really began to show how their forwards had bullied so many others throughout the season.
Good fringe defence meant that although Teeside were making gains they were slow and a lack of pace in their backline meant intelligent drift defence kept Teeside at bay. Teeside continued to infringe, especially at the breakdown, and York kicked a penalty to enter half-time 15-0 up.
The first score after half-time was always going to be important, but this time it was Teeside who caught York cold. For the first time they shipped quick ball, but poor organisation and a failure to drift cost York as the full-back ghosted over to score and the conversion was added. York were woken up and realised that suddenly a game they had been dominant in was on the edge. In response they almost immediately regained their fifteen point cushion.
Good phase work ended with the ball in Peter Spanker’s hands beating one man before being tackled close to the line. Good strength by Spanker to stay on his feet meant York could propel him over the line and Burrows added the extra two. A tight game ensued and although both teams could have scored it wasn’t until two minutes before the end that another score game.
Teeside had numbers over and it looked like they would score to ensure a tense ending, but intelligent play from Dave Lowe and a naïve pass from Teeside left sub Lowe with an easy run in, following which he converted his own score.
It’s good to win again...promotion is now a distinct possibility
Captain Paul Goodall was delighted with another win to make it five out of six: “It’s good to win again, especially that the performance was significantly improved from last weeks abysmal display against YSJ. Promotion is now a distinct possibility, but we need to continue the current form against a resurgent Durham team.”
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