Desperate times call for desperate measures. And boy, do they pay off at the Knights.

After last week's demoralising defeat to Sheffield to virtually dump them out of the automatic promotion race, coach Richard Agar and chief executive Steve Ferres co-ordinated a radical shake-up after realising they 'had nothing to lose'.

Gone was bad-luck omen Dale Cardoza, who had played in every league defeat during July. Gone, too, were assistant coach Nathan Graham and loose forward Damian Ball.

Skipper Lee Jackson, Simon Friend and Craig Forsyth were all unavailable.

But by the end of the day, it was clear the Knights were back. And how.

All-but-promoted Barrow arrived at Huntington Stadium with the hopes of continuing their seven game winning streak, not to mention avenge their only league defeat of the season, oh, and practically sew up their promotion charge by creating an eight-point gap over York.

But they hadn't accounted for a gritty Knights side determined to shake off their miserable July hoodoo at the earliest possible opportunity.

With Jackson and vice-captain Friend both out of action and Graham gone for good, it was stand-off Scott Rhodes who was called on to lead the team.

After creating the try that swung the entire game in York's favour, there was no doubt that Agar had made the right call. With the score finely balanced at 14-10, he took hold of the ball and drove it deep into the Raiders line, chipped it ahead of himself, scooped it up and then handed it off to scrum-half Danny Brough.

The crowd lifted the roof as the tension of the last month was obliterated in one move and the buzz was back.

Two minutes later, Mick Ramsden powered over the line from a Rhodes pass for his first try of the season. Then just when the Raiders thought things couldn't get any worse, the outstanding Jim Elston inexplicably stretched his arm into the scoring zone despite being surrounded by four defenders for a well-deserved try.

Two of the three new boys in action had earlier in the game marked their debuts in the revolution with tries.

Second row Dean Andrews claimed the first after 16 minutes. Brough seemed to make time stand still as he stopped, casually scanned the field for options on the last tackle and calmly sent the ball over the top for Andrews to ground right in front of the Popular Stand.

He later said he is not known as a prolific scorer.

Winger Craig Farrell, on the other hand, is, having scored seven times in 15 games for Hull KR this seadon. And he refused to keep the crowd waiting for his first effort. Having gone close several times in the first half, he got his break seven minutes into the second after a sweet passing movement from Rhodes to Darren Callaghan ended in his arms as he shot over.

Prop Adam Sullivan also singled himself out as an imposing figure, strong in the tackle and going forward.

The Raiders looked disorganised and frequently struggled to get themselves onside, much to the chagrin of the Knights bench. Not even past hero Darren Carter - in 'doing a Richie Hayes' to plug the gaps left by injuries - could re-ignite the magic.

Not surprisingly, the two tries that slipped through the otherwise solid Knights defensive net were great individual efforts.

Paul Jones opened out on 27 minutes and motored through the line on a seemingly untouched 50-yard sprint for Darren Holt to easily convert.

And in the dying seconds, Chris Archer had his persistent drives rewarded with a zig-zagging dash over the whitewash, Adam Pate adding the extras to create an identical scoreline to the last time the Knights played - and beat - Barrow. Damien Reid won't have taken many happy memories away from his return to York.

Barrow boss Peter Roe had said going into the match it would be like their grand final because with automatic promotion beckoning, they would miss out on the chance for a big day out at the end of the season.

By the end of it, he must have been glad promotion wasn't resting on it.

The Knights are back.

Knights: Chris Smith 7, Buchanan 7, Langley 7, Callaghan 8, Farrell 8, Rhodes 9, Brough 8, Wilson 7, Elston 9, Sozi 7, Ramsden 8, Andrews 8, Cain 8.

Subs (all used): Kama 7, John Smith 7, Sullivan 7, Stannard 7.

Tries: Andrews 16, Farrell 47, Brough 63, Ramsden 65, Elston 68. Cons: Brough 63, 65.

Pens: Brough 10, 14, 31.Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

Man of the match:

Scott Rhodes. Rose to the challenge of stand-in captain and became an ever-present.

Raiders: Bower, Irabor, Reid, Jones, Pate, Archer, Holt, Dancer, Clark, Wilcock, Whitehead, King, Pugh.

Subs (all used): Finch, Lupton, Leigh, Carter.

Tries: Jones 27, Archer 80.

Conversions: Holt 27, Pate 80.

Penalties: Holt 35, 53.

Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

HT: 10-8

Referee: Peter Taberner (Wigan)

Rating: Missed a few offsides early doors but seemed to have a comprehensive grip on things by the end.

Penalty count: 15-11

Gamebreaker: Scott Rhodes chipped ahead of himself and handed off to Danny Brough for the try of the day and restored confidence in an instant.

Attendance: 1,307

Weather watch: Balmy summer's day but tough to play in.

Match rating: Entertaining and uplifting for the Knights fans.

Updated: 11:15 Monday, August 02, 2004