YORK City Knights will have to travel to Toulouse yet again next weekend after Rochdale pulled off the shock of the season in the Kingstone Press League One promotion final.

Alan Kilshaw's men trailed 16-8 at half-time to the table-toppers and huge favourites but turned it around to win 24-22 in stunning fashion and seal the first promotion place back up to the Championship.

Toulouse, who had been expected to march into the higher tier, instead drop into the play-offs - and a home semi-final against the Knights next weekend.

It will be the third time in only two and a half months that James Ford's men will have had to make the long trek to the south of France having travelled over for the regular season encounter on July 2 and then getting sent there again in the Super 8s at the end of July.

They lost the first match 44-6 and the second 46-16, having travelled on that latter occasion with only 15 players due to unavailability caused in part by the recent off-field strife and the late notice that the game was going to be played. The efforts of Ford's depleted troops that day earned them an impromptu guard of honour from the home team as they left the field.

Toulouse had gone through the entire season unbeaten - their only point dropped coming in a draw away to Rochdale early in the campaign. The Hornets stole the runners-up spot in the final table last weekend and as such qualified for today's promotion final.

The Knights had beaten the Lancashire side in each of their three league and cup meetings this season en route to finishing fifth and had expected to travel again to Spotland next weekend for a place in the grand final.

A date and time of York's play-off semi-final at Stade Ernest Argeles is to be confirmed but is likely to be next Saturday. It is unclear how many players and staff, all semi-pro, will be able to get the time off work to travel.

Barrow, who finished third, host Doncaster, who were fourth, in the other semi-final next Sunday.