BARROW RAIDERS 6 YORK KNIGHTS 32
PETER WILSON, Northern Competitions Stadium, Saturday
YORK eventually survived a bitterly-fought Challenge Cup tie but the visit to Cumbria may have come at a price ahead of their Super League launch on Thursday.
A fiery first half featured a dozen penalties, two sin-binnings and a mass brawl which resulted in red cards for both Knights veteran Paul McShane and Barrow’s Greg Richards.
Earlier, Raiders’ Ryan King and York’s Jesse Dee had been shown yellow cards for high tackles as referee Kevin Moore struggled to keep control of proceedings.
The top-flight newcomers now wait to discover the disciplinary verdict and whether they will be any weaker for their home opener with champions Hull KR.
While their best work came at the end, York had also got off to a flying start. Helped by a handling error in the home defence, they spread the ball wide and Toa Mata’afa was able to finish off the opening try four minutes in.
It took only seven further minutes for York to strike again, this time Nikau Williams scoring for an 8-0 lead.
Barrow’s troubles worsened when King was shown a yellow card for a high tackle, but things were evened up shortly afterwards when Dee suffered the same punishment for a similar offence.
Things finally boiled over when McShane and Richards clashed and the rest of their team-mates ran in to join the melee.
Barrow seemed to benefit more from the interruption and when Luke Cresswell was the first to reach a kick ahead to touch down and Brad Walker added the conversion on 35 minutes, they were in business.
But Knights struck a killer blow to their hopes on the stroke of half-time when Jack Martin took a pass from Denive Balmforth to go in for York’s third try.
Liam Harris’s conversion – his only goal from five attempts – took the lead back to eight points.
The half-time break did nothing to cool the tempers or lower the penalty count after another skirmish brought lectures to both skippers.
A string of six penalties put Barrow back on the rack and Williams went in for his second try on the hour to stretch the lead and knock the sting out of a stubborn Barrow challenge.
The rest was a formality as the home side tired under the pressure, and the closing minutes brought further tries for Dee, Oli Field (converted by Williams) and Paul Vaughan.
GAMESTAR: There were no standout performances on a stop-start night but York’s Toa Mata’afa kept a cool head when it was needed.
GAMEBREAKER: Nikau Williams’ 60th-minute try took York twelve points clear.
MATCHFACTS
RAIDERS
1 Luke Cresswell
5 Luke Broadbent
4 Curtis Teare
12 Matty Costello
25 Tee Ritson
6 Brad Walker
7 Ryan Johnston
10 Joe Bullock
9 Josh Wood
8 Tom Walker
11 Ellis Robson
30 Jarrad Stack
13 Ryan King
Subs (all used)
17 Alex Bishop
32 Ellis Archer
15 Charlie Emslie
16 Greg Richards
Tries: Cresswell (35)
Goals: B Walker 1/1
Sin bin: King (18) – high tackle
Dismissal: Richards (34) – fighting
KNIGHTS
1 Toa Mata’afa
2 Ben Jones-Bishop
4 Sam Wood (D)
25 Nikau Wiliams (D2)
5 Scott Galeano
6 Ata Hingano
7 Liam Harris
10 Paul Vaughan (D)
9 Paul McShane
15 Xavier Va’a (D)
20 Oli Field
12 Jesse Dee
13 Jordan Thompson
Subs (all used)
14 Denive Balmforth (D)
8 Jack Martin
16 Justin Sangaré (D)
31 King Vuniyayawa (D)
Tries: Mata’afa (4), Williams (11, 61), Martin (40), Dee (70), Field (72), Vaughan (80)
Goals: Harris 1/5, Williams 1/2
Sin bin: Dee (21) – high tackle
Dismissal: McShane (34) – fighting
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-8, 6-8, 6-14; 6-18, 6-22, 6-28, 6-32
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Raiders: Joe Bullock; Knights: Toa Mata’afa
Penalty count: 10-13
Half-time: 6-14
Referee: Kevin Moore
Attendance: 1,389