Betfred League One: Coventry Bears 18 York City Knights 58
Coventry: Bass, Hunte, Pearce-Paul, Ogden, Freeman, Rice-Wilson, Stead, Geurtjens, Hughes, Ryan, Bateman, Gray, Vitalini. Subs (all used): Lord, Kaufman, Lloyd-Jones, Williams.
Tries: Ogden 15; Hughes 23; Ryan 26.
Conversions: Stead 15, 23, 26 (3/3).
Penalties: none.
Sent off: none.
Sin-binned: none.
Knights: Cockayne 7, Mazive 7, Batchelor 7, Hey 7, Robson 7, Jackson 6, C Robinson 7, A Robinson 7, Jubb 6, Siddons 8, Kelly 6, Scott 6, Spears 7. Subs (all used): Hawksworth 7, Maskill 6, Ronan Dixon 6, Porter 6.
Tries: A Robinson 3; Jubb 9; Spears 12; Hawksworth 36; Dixon 45; Robson 50; Mazive 54; Batchelor 61, 66; Hey 74.
Conversions: C Robinson 3, 9, 12, 36, 45, 50, 61, 66, 74 (9/10).
Penalties: none.
Sent off: none.
Sin-binned: none.
Man of the match: Chris Siddons – the prop asked questions of Coventry’s middle unit, got through them a few times, got out some good balls, and worked hard.
Referee: Brandon Robinson (Dewsbury) – decent enough, although York did get a couple of 50-50 decisions.
Penalty count: 8-11
Half-time: 18-24
Weather: dry and mild.
Attendance: 500 approx
Moment of the match: Judah Mazive’s try was a nice winger’s finish down the right flank.
Gaffe of the match: if the Knights had talked about complacency in the build-up to the match, the players only heeded any warnings after a blast from the hairdryer at half-time. Allowing Coventry to get their three tries in the fashion they did was disappointing.
Gamebreaker: Three tries in the first 14 minutes of the second period following a half-time rollicking took York clear to 40-18 and, while Coventry had drawn level from 18-0 down in the first half, they would not be allowed any way back in again this time around.
Match rating: it all looked too easy early on as York breezed 18-0 up but, not unlike last week at Hunslet, the Knights fell asleep with the Bears making them pay by drawing level. A fortunate try followed by a half-time rollicking got things back on track, though, as James Ford’s men gave a much harder and more professional second-half performance. Will need to be consistently better against the better teams, though.
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