WHEN the Knights faithful belt out a rousing rendition of "We are York and we're proud of it" to greet a defeat, it is clear the effort and commitment had been there in bucket-loads.

Indeed it was. From the smallest fan in the noise-ridden stands to captain fantastic Lee Jackson on the field, the exertions of the entire Knights brigade was so meritorious it deserved the reward of a Grand Final on October 10.

Unfortunately, mistakes at key times in key areas of the pitch meant it was Halifax that went straight through with a 37-20 triumph, leaving the Knights to fight it out the hard way, with a knockout semi-final at home to in-form Workington, who saw off Hunslet yesterday, next Sunday.

The silver lining, of course, is that Huntington Stadium gets to stage another excitement-packed encounter this year and, given the thrills and spills of yesterday's clash - and the Knights' campaign as a whole - another bumper crowd will no doubt be there to swell the coffers.

Richard Agar's men will have to cut out the mistakes, though, if they are to beat a red-hot Workington side and achieve another crack at Halifax in the Halton Stadium showdown.

They paid the price for errors yesterday, most notably in the first half-hour.

Jackson had given them a wonderful early advantage after reading Scott Rhodes' grubber and touching down for Danny Brough to convert, but then three blunders helped to give Fax a healthy lead.

York firstly gave away a scrum near half-way and the home attack ended with a try for Alan Hadcroft in the corner despite the efforts of Austin Buchanan and Chris Langley to hold him up.

Then they received an undeserved blow when Rhodes, after doing well to tidy up loose play, off-loaded blindly into the waiting arms of Hadcroft, who turned and scampered 30 metres home.

And thirdly they gave away a needless penalty from which Fax attacked again with Simon Grix dummying over.

Mark Cain and Langley went close as the Knights fought on, but Fax responded with a huge 40-20 and a two-point penalty for holding down in front of the sticks.

The hosts, unlike York, were mistake free - apart from a few penalties - and, with confidence ever-increasing, produced a superb impromptu move which appeared to give them one of their tries of the season only for the touch judge to call the scoring pass forward.

Nevertheless, their next attack did count when, after yet another York knock-on, Pat Weisner wriggled clear.

Ben Black kept the pressure on with a drop goal before the Knights got themselves a lifeline just before the break.

Rhodes' swirling bomb was misjudged - Halifax's only handling error of the half - and after Jim Elston did well to get on to it, John Smith did even better to gather and sprint over.

York were thus two converted scores down at the interval and, three minutes after, it was game on for sure when Jackson and Elston did well to take York forward from a penalty before Smith shot on to Brough's pass for his second try.

However, just as in the first half, after the Knights struck first, Fax hit back harder.

Firstly, they benefited from a controversial knock-on decision to enjoy an attack which ended with Scott Grix reaching the corner, and then, after they were denied by fantastic try-saving tackles by Smith and Craig Farrell, a crazy bounce deceived Cain and, as he dived on to the ball, former Knight Rikki Sheriffe sped forward to kick it from under him and touch down.

Cain, playing at full-back as Chris Smith was injured and Scott Walker had been ill, was otherwise solid and came close to getting the Knights back in it when held up on the line.

That try, though, was the killer as it put Fax three converted tries in front with 27 minutes left and, try as York might - and they did try their damnedest - there was no way back.

Simon Friend gave them hope when using brute strength to get over but, with the Knights not always making the most of the chances they forged, Fax thereafter defended well enough - albeit with the help of a little time-wasting - to stay in charge.

Home captain Weisner missed an easy penalty after Brough mouthed his frustration, but they were still able to give the scoreline a flattering look late on.

Elston's do-or-die chip and chase was only denied by a wonderful cover tackle from the speedy Sheriffe and Fax broke for the similarly rapid Ben Feehan to sprint clear.

Match facts:

LHF Healthcare

National League play-offs Qualifying semi-final

Sunday, September 26, 2004

at the Shay

Knights: Cain 7, Buchanan 7, Langley 7, Spurr 6, Farrell 7, Rhodes 7, Brough 6, Wilson 7, Jackson 8, Sozi 5, Ramsden 7, Callaghan 6, Friend 7. Subs (all used): Elston 8, Talipeau 6, J Smith 8; Sullivan 7.

Tries: Jackson 8; J Smith 39, 43; Friend 62.

Cons: Brough 8, 39.

Penalties: None.

Drop goals: None.

Sent off: None.

Halifax: Feehan, Sheriffe, Bunyan, Hadcroft, Haley, Simon Grix, Black, MacDonald, Moxon, Birchall, Bloem, Corcoran, Weisner. Subs (all used): Greenwood, Scott Grix, Bates, Farrell.

Tries: Hadcroft 12, 17; Simon Grix 21; Weisner 31; Scott Grix 48; Sheriffe 53; Feehan 79.

Cons: Bloem 17, 31, 79.

Penalties: Bloem 26.

Drop goals: Black 36.

Sent off: None.

Man of the match:

Jim Elston - injected his usual pace and enthusiasm and, while working hard in defence, proved a constant handful in attack.

HT: 23-12.

Referee: Richard Silverwood (Mirfield).

Rating: Okay, though he did award a couple of dodgy groundings for Fax.

Penalty count: 5-8

Gamebreaker: The horrendous bounce that took the ball away from Mark Cain and gave Rikki Sheriffe the chance to pounce for Fax's second try after the intervalwhich took the momentum away from York.

Attendance: 2,213.

Weather watch: Pretty windy, dry.

Match rating: Excellent game for the neutral, great for Fax fans, and more than enough to keep the vocal Knights faithful geed up.

Updated: 09:53 Monday, September 27, 2004