YORK City Knights expect an allegation of biting against Jack Lee to come to nothing - and have suggested the accusations could be part of a ploy to unsettle their skipper or even get him suspended for the rest of the play-offs.

The allegation was made by Oldham half-back Lewis Palfrey to referee George Stokes towards the end of today's Championship One qualifying semi-final at Huntington Stadium, which the Roughyeds won 31-12 having dominated from the off. Palfrey showed the official a mark on his shoulder.

No action was taken against Lee - who is thought to be a candidate for the Championship One Player of the Year - but Stokes put the incident on report, meaning Rugby Football League disciplinary chiefs will look for video evidence.

Lee, whose team will now face Hunslet at home next Sunday in a second chance to get to the Grand Final, strenuously denies the allegation.

"I had a gum shield in - it's impossible," he told The Press. "They can say what they want, I did not bite him. I don't know if it's a tactic to stop me playing in the next round."

Knights boss Gary Thornton said: "He (Palfrey) has shown the referee a mark and accused Jack Lee of biting him. Jack Lee wears a gum shield. Anyone who's worn a gum shield would know you can't bite anyone. It (the mark) could have been anything.

"Is it victimisation? That would make me angry if those are their tactics. It's just wrong.

"Given how well they played, do they need to do that?

"I very much doubt anything will come up on the DVD and I hope the disciplinary see it that way."

Oldham boss Scott Naylor said: "Our player made a complaint to the referee and we will let the RFL deal with it.

"If it's proven, and that's a big 'if', it's very disappointing. But I want to stress it's an allegation and I don't want to be jumping on Jack Lee's back. If it's proven, unfortunately it should not be in our game."

As for the match, Thornton admitted his side had been second best from the off.

He reckoned the fact this was only their second game in five weeks - due to free weeks at the end of the regular season and a bye in the first play-off round due to finishing first in the league - meant they were rusty.

But he remained confident, especially with extra match sharpness, that they would beat arch-rivals Hunslet next week to reach Headingley on October 5 - and a rematch with the Roughyeds.

Hunslet hammered Gateshead 50-6 in their elimination play-off, but York have won all three games between the sides so far this year.

"Fair play to Oldham, they came with lots of enthusiasm, certainly in the first half. They got 24 points and we could not break them down, so fair play," said Thornton.

"We didn't play to our game plan or deliver it. We allowed Oldham to dominate us. Some of their line speed was incredible, although I'm not sure how much that was down to (referee) Mr George Stokes' interpretation of the rules (regarding lying on and offsides). Oldham played with a lot of tempo themselves.

"Before the game I wanted to be allowed to play fast and George Stokes is an official in the Championship and Super League so you'd think he'd officiate a fast game, but it was to the contrary in that he would not allow us to play fast.

"We, on the other hand, jumped off tackles too quickly - we did not control the ruck speed.

"It was hit and miss from Mr Stokes but he's not the reason we lost. We lost because we did not perform well."

The result ended York's ten-match winning streak. "It's a long time since we discussed a poor performance," added Thornton.

"We were second best in all departments.

"We were out-enthused in the first half and that's the bit that's really hurting."

On possible rustiness, he said: "In both our last two games we haven't been fluid, we haven't been ourselves. We've been a bit disjointed and were off the pace.

"Hopefully that will be put right. We're straight into it next week. That won't be an easy game either but we get another crack of the whip and we've shown we can beat Hunslet.

"My lads are a great group. I'm expecting a big reaction."

Second-row Ryan Mallinder dislocated a finger but Thornton confirmed there were no other injuries.