SHEFFIELD EAGLES 10 YORK KNIGHTS 36
DAN FOWLER, Steel City Stadium, Sunday
YORK made it ten consecutive wins in all competitions as they swept Sheffield aside.
Ata Hingano was the star of the show for York, scoring a quick-fire double in the first half whilst having a very capable kicking deputy in Liam Harris alongside him.
Sheffield will have been rueing their luck as the influential Jenson Windley was taken off injured with a head knock on the half-hour mark, leaving the hosts without an out-and-out halfback for the remainder of the game.
There was no time for sympathy on the Knights’ part though, as they unleashed their inner Beautiful South by completing a perfect ten.
York’s success under Mark Applegarth has been built on solid defence and their first try of the game came via the platform set by their rearguard.
Having retrieved the ball from a Sheffield kick just shy of halfway, the Knights got to work on getting into striking distance.
They were still outside of the Sheffield 20-metre mark when Connor Bailey scooted past Alex Foster, and then fullback Jack Walker, to open the scoring for the visitors. Harris converted.
Sheffield were coming into this after a dismal second-half showing against Batley, so it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see them roll over against the York juggernaut.
However, coach Craig Lingard will have been impressed by their reaction as they got into the arm-wrestle and levelled the scores on 26 minutes.
A break from Windley helped Sheffield get into position and on the very next play, Reiss Butterworth had too much for the Knights to handle with a sharp burst out of dummy-half. Josh Hodson converted.
Just moments later, Windley left the field of play for a head-injury assessment and he wouldn’t return.
With that went any sort of consistent attacking structure for the hosts and York’s late first-half flourish would set the platform for the second half.
Hingano applied the finishing touches to a couple of very nice moves that featured outside backs Joe Law and then Scott Galeano. Harris converted both scores to put York 6-18 up at the interval.
Similarly to the first league game between the sides, former Eagle Ben Jones-Bishop came to life as he kept up his sparkling try-scoring record.
York’s attack had confidence flowing through its veins and Jones-Bishop’s first was a great example of that, with some smart ball movement to the right wing.
He completed his brace with one of the easiest tries he’ll have scored, an offload from Connor Bailey finding the Jamaican speedster in his stride. Another two Harris conversions brought up the 30-point mark for the Knights, just after the hour mark.
Eight minutes remained when York made it a four-score game, winning a penalty right in front of the sticks. Harris opted to take the two and it was now a foregone conclusion.
The two sides exchanged tries in the final stages. Billy Walkley scored on debut for the Eagles as he received a lovely cut-out ball from Connor Bower before York fullback Toa Mata’afa waltzed through some tiring Sheffield defence.
Bower and Harris were unable to convert their respective attempts.
GAMESTAR: Ata Hingano was at his mercurial best, scoring two tries and constantly threatening the Eagles’ defence.
GAMEBREAKER: Ben Jones-Bishop’s tries either side of the hour mark gave York an unassailable advantage.
MATCHFACTS
EAGLES
26 Jack Walker
21 Ryan Millar
3 Kris Welham
33 Josh Hodson
26 Billy Walkley
9 Corey Johnson
31 Jenson Windley
8 Eddie Battye
14 Reiss Butterworth
16 Blake Broadbent
12 Joel Farrell
23 Alex Foster
13 Titus Gwaze
Subs (all used)
20 Lewis Peachey
24 Oliver Roberts
30 Martyn Reilly
36 Jack Billington
18th man (used)
11 Connor Bower
Tries: Butterworth (26), Walkley (76)
Goals: Hodson 1/1, Bower 0/1
KNIGHTS
36 Toa Mata’afa
34 Ben Jones-Bishop
3 Kieran Buchanan
4 Joe Law
35 Scott Galeano
6 Ata Hingano
7 Liam Harris
21 Conor Fitzsimmons
19 Sam Cook
8 Jack Martin
12 Connor Bailey
20 Oli Field
13 Jordan Thompson
Subs (all used)
9 Paul McShane
24 Harvey Reynolds
31 Kieran Hudson
33 Mitch Clark
Tries: Bailey (9), Hingano (33, 36), Jones-Bishop (54, 62), Mata’afa (80)
Goals: Harris 6/7
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6, 6-12, 6-18; 6-24, 6-30, 6-32, 10-32, 10-36
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Eagles: Reiss Butterworth; Knights: Ata Hingano
Penalty count: 6-4
Half-time: 6-18
Referee: Ryan Cox
Attendance: 746