Featherstone Lions 8 York City Knights 58

YORK City Knights surged untroubled into the fifth round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup – but they had to show amateurs Featherstone Lions plenty of respect to do so.

Not only did boss James Ford – himself a former Lions junior – pick a full-strength side but his team showed little complacency on the field, trying to snap into tackles and play with enough pace to quell the fire in the home bellies.

Anything less and this tie at Featherstone Rovers’ Big Fellas Stadium - the game was switched to the home of the Lions’ professional neighbours - may have turned into a slippier banana skin.

As it was, the Knights won 58-8, victory effectively ensured by five first-half tries without reply.

The fifth round draw now takes place on Tuesday night and will see the four lowest Super League clubs based on last year’s table – Salford, Wakefield, Hull and Hull KR – join the 12 winners from this weekend’s ties.

The Knights will probably want a plum draw against either of the two Humberside clubs to bring money into the coffers, else get one of the weaker teams in order to hopefully net top-tier big-guns in round six.

Finances, it is easy to assume, are likely to be getting tighter by the week as the club remain homeless - with community stadium talks apparently still going on in the background but with none of the parties involved saying how they are progressing.

With unrest growing off the field – a number of Knights and York City fans put their names to a letter this week demanding chairman John Guildford step down in the wake of a takeover bid by City’s owners – Ford and his men are the ones bringing the positivity to proceedings on it.

The win made it three out of four this term and, while each of those victories was largely expected, the players’ continued professionalism and enthusiasm in the face of ongoing adversity and uncertainty has to be admired.

That professionalism was reflected in Ford’s selection as he resisted temptation to give fringe players a run, saying his full-strength line-up was a mark of respect to the Lions.

That selection also gave the team an extra 80 minutes to build fluency ahead of the League One campaign which kicks off at Easter.

On-loan Luke Menzies was ruled out and fit-again Ryan Mallinder came in – being named captain for the day too as he took on his former amateur club – but the side was otherwise the same as that which lost to Newcastle in the iPro Sport Cup last week.

It took 14 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, hooker Kriss Brining digging over from dummy-half, James Haynes adding his first of nine conversions.

Brining did it again on 21 minutes after the Lions - pinned on their own line after a penalty for a terrible high tackle by Danny Glassell saw Nev Morrison exit the action - had battled gamely to keep the visitors out.

York, showing no signs of complacency, were playing with feverishness to match the home support but handling errors marred those efforts. When Greg Minikin dropped the restart, the Lions had a chance, ruined by a knock-on.

The amateurs, over-eagerness getting the better of them, also racked up a penalty count as referee Scott Mikalauskas played to strict pro standards, their cause made worse when hooker Dean Gamble was sin-binned.

With him off, a superbly delayed pass by Jonny Presley saw Haynes send Pete Aspinall in.

Then, following a Minikin break, the ball was swept left for Cunningham to stroll in.

Featherstone were back up to 13 when Harry Carter, on for Brining, did as Brining did, going in from dummy-half to make it 30-0 at the break.

The catcalls at the referee picked up again as home winger Jake Perkins cut through the line only to be brought back, to his anger, for a forward pass.

As they struggled to get out of their half, Ed Smith ripped the ball one-on-one and scampered to the line.

On the back of a penalty, though, the Lions got their reward. The defence was sucked in and the ball was played left smartly for Kieran Redfearn to touch down, his glee being more than matched by that in the crowd.

Two smart tries in two minutes – Josh Tonks’ reverse ball seeing Haynes crash in and Cunningham getting his second on the back of a Brining run – saw order restored.

Still, slack play allowed Featherstone to regain possession from the restart and they benefited as Sam Candlin dug over to give them further reward – and nothing more than they deserved for a performance that did the National Conference League, never mind its third tier, proud.

York had the last word, however, as Colton Roche fought over before Cunningham completed his hat-trick.

 

Match stats

Featherstone Lions: Jackson, Redfearn, Williams, Dyas, Perkins, Candlin, Young, Wilson, Gamble, Curtis, Glassell, Johnson, Gibbins. Subs (all used): Frankland, Hepworth, Barker, Millard.

Tries: Redfearn 55; Candlin 73.

Conversions: none.

Penalties: none.

Sent off: none.

Sin-binned: Gamble 25.

Knights: Haynes 6, Chisholm 6, Minikin 6, Cunningham 8, Morrison 6, Presley 7, P Smith 7, Applegarth 7, Brining 8, Aldous 7, Aspinall 7, E Smith 8, Mallinder 7. Subs (all used): Carter 7, Roche 8, Tonks 7, Pickles 6.

Tries: Brining 14, 21; Aspinall 29; Cunningham 32, 70, 80; Carter 40; E Smith 50; Haynes 69; Roche 77.

Conversions: Haynes 14, 21, 29, 32, 40, 50, 70, 77, 80.

Penalties: none.

Sent off: none.

Sin-binned: none.

Man of the match: Kriss Brining – got the first two tries to settle any nerves and send his side on their way, and his performance was athletic and explosive throughout.

Referee: Scott Mikalauskas (Leigh) – got a lot of stick from home supporters for a strictness that gave the Lions little room for manoeuvre.

Half-time: 0-30.

Weather: nippy but calm.

Attendance: 500 est.

Moment of the match: Liam Cunningham’s hat-trick try on the final hooter finished a slick move.

Gaffe of the match: It was actually before the match, as no one thought to book a doctor or a timekeeper to sit alongside York’s veteran stopwatch supremo John Thorpe, meaning kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes and the referee had to keep time himself.

Gamebreaker: Kriss Brining’s two tries midway through the first half, followed by nine consecutive penalties in York’s favour before half-time, had the Lions, despite being full of enthusiasm and fervour, on the back foot.

Match rating: York had to match Featherstone Lions’ enthusiasm to ensure safe progression and this they did.