HALIFAX PANTHERS 12 YORK KNIGHTS 19
STEPHEN IBBETSON, Bartercard Odsal, Bradford, Friday
BEN JONES-BISHOP’S double secured leaders York an eleventh consecutive league win – but they had to earn this one the hard way.
They trailed a gutsy Halifax until just shy of the hour mark, when Jones-Bishop raced away from inside his own half to finally put the Knights on the board.
And after Paul McShane went over, Jones-Bishop’s second completed a twelve-minute purple patch and an admirable victory.
It also capped an excellent day for York fans following the announcement of former Australia international Paul Vaughan’s signing for next season, as the club increasingly push their future Super League credentials.
Halifax may have been beaten in their third game of five at temporary home Odsal, but can take heart from a fine performance, certainly for an hour, against the league’s best.
Keep up this level of effort and desire and they may yet hang on to a place in the play-offs.
After withstanding some early pressure, Halifax battled their way onto the front foot with the help of powerful forward Will Calcott.
And their reward was the opening try after 16 minutes, scored by Charlie Graham and assisted by Ben Crooks but very much created by veteran winger David Nofoaluma, who somehow smuggled out an offload when crowded by York defenders.
George Whitby, back on dual-registration from St Helens more than four months after his last Panthers appearance, couldn’t add the conversion, but after his side defended their line strongly for successive sets he nudged the score out to 6-0 with a penalty awarded for offside.
Another offside, this time from a York kick, invited Halifax to attack again in the closing stages of the first period, but Vila Halafihi was denied from dummy-half.
They continued to hold their own in the opening exchanges of the second half too, battling hard to match a powerful York side in an end-to-end tussle and coming close to extending their lead when Adam Tangata’s charge was halted fractionally short.
Pressing for a second try, Halifax let the Knights back into the game on the hour mark when Kiwi hooker Sam Cook was allowed to sneak through from deep in his own half and prolific winger Jones-Bishop offered support to race more than half the length of the field that remained.
Liam Harris converted to level and, in a flash, this was an altogether different game, with York on the front foot and soon in the lead too.
A high tackle by James Saltonstall led to McShane going over from dummy-half in the 65th minute, Harris converting again.
And six minutes later, Saltonstall erred again knocking on a kick, from which Brenden Santi drove forward and offloaded for Jones-Bishop to score his second of the night and 22nd of the league season.
Harris added the extras before joining Cook in being forced off by injury. Nonetheless, Will Dagger made certain of the victory with a field-goal five minutes from time.
Halifax seemed spent but admirably fought to the end and scored a consolation try in the final seconds through Saltonstall, created by a Dayon Sambou offload and converted by Whitby.
GAMESTAR: Ben Jones-Bishop’s two tries were crucial to the final outcome.
GAMEBREAKER: York’s first points flipped the whole contest in an instant.
MATCHFACTS
PANTHERS
23 David Nofoaluma
3 Charlie Graham
4 Ben Crooks
30 Dayon Sambou
5 James Saltonstall
1 Louis Jouffret
32 George Whitby
8 Brandon Douglas
9 Adam O’Brien
17 Will Calcott
19 Zack McComb
12 Adam Tangata
15 Connor Davies
Subs (all used)
13 Jacob Fairbank
14 Tom Inman
33 Leon Cowen
34 Vila Halafihi
Tries: Graham (17), Saltonstall (80)
Goals: Whitby 2/3
KNIGHTS
36 Toa Mata’afa
34 Ben Jones-Bishop
3 Kieran Buchanan
20 Oli Field
35 Scott Galeano
1 Will Dagger
7 Liam Harris
8 Jack Martin
9 Paul McShane
33 Mitch Clark
11 Jesse Dee
12 Connor Bailey
13 Jordan Thompson
Subs (all used)
10 Brenden Santi
19 Sam Cook
21 Conor Fitzsimmons
31 Kieran Hudson
Tries: Jones-Bishop (59, 71), McShane (65)
Goals: Harris 3/3
Field-goals: Harris (75)
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 6-0; 6-6, 6-12, 6-18, 6-19, 12-19
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Panthers: Will Calcott; Knights: Ben Jones-Bishop
Penalty count: 4-4
Half-time: 6-0
Referee: Matty Lynn