IT might only seem like yesterday but it is now almost half a decade since York City Knights’ rivalry with Hunslet Hawks reached its new level and “arch” status.

It was the middle of 2009 season when Paul March was controversially sacked as player-coach at the Knights only to quickly take up the same position at then Championship One foes Hunslet, 30 miles down the road.

Almost immediately, a host of Knights players - some liked, some loathed - began to follow him from Huntington Stadium to South Leeds, banter between fans reached fever pitch, the media picked up on it all, and a mutual animosity was formed. As luck would have it, the two clubs were to meet each other a few weeks after March’s switch, just to ramp up the ill-feeling.

Five years on, March is no longer at Hunslet, his replacement at York, James Ratcliffe, has long since gone, and many of the players involved have moved on too.

Yet, as we’ll probably see tomorrow at Huntington Stadium, the rivalry between clubs and fans remains very much intact, albeit these days with a strong hint of mutual respect and appreciation - helped by a large dose of good humour from either side of the terraces as both clubs won promotion to the Championship in 2010, struggled to consolidate and came back down together in 2013, to start up a promotion battle once again in Championship One this year.

It’s almost become a love-hate relationship with a trophy up for grabs. York love to hate Hunslet but they’d hate it more if they weren’t there. And vice versa.

In fact, click on a messageboard these days and you might see a Hunslet fan defend York should a supporter of another other club say something untoward, and a York fan do likewise in return.

Obviously, the same two fans would still go hell for leather at each other too.

Looking back, the 2009 events which led to this deep rivalry stemmed from a pretty bonkers time in the Knights’ relatively short history.

Just think. Player-coach (March), director of rugby (Ratcliffe) and four players, including club captain (March’s twin, David) and team captain (Paul Hughes), are suspended from first-team duty following events in corporate hospitality at a Leeds v Bradford game - a scandal to become known as ‘Headingleygate’. It famously involved unpleasant comments allegedly being written on a tablecloth.

Player-coach publicly criticises the club’s decision, and is soon sacked, while another of the players involved (Danny Ratcliffe) sees his director of rugby uncle take the reins.

Ex-player-coach duly takes up a similar job at rival club, soon comes up against his ex-club (including twin brother) and beats them in a heated encounter, even though a few weeks earlier ex-club had won the reverse fixture.

This result kicks off a run of superiority which would last four and a half years, much to ex-club’s chagrin. Yet both teams go on to have similar fates - promoted in 2010, relegation in 2013 and promotion battle in 2014.

Meanwhile, by the autumn of 2009, eight players (including twin brother David and team captain Hughes) follow ex-coach to rival club, with more following them the next year.

What fun.

Player movement between the two clubs has remained high ever since, and there will again be several ex-Knights in the Hawks team that comes to Huntington Stadium tomorrow, with Brooke Broughton, Aaron Lyons and Luke Stenchion the latest to make the switch last winter.

 

• IT’S fair to say Hunslet have had a stranglehold over York ever since the Headingleygate affair - at least until this season.

Beforehand, the Knights, since their maiden 2003 season, won nine encounters against Hunslet, with the Hawks enjoying four victories, including two surprise league wins in 2004.

Two of York’s more memorable wins came in the 2005 National League Two title-winning campaign, when a then record crowd of 3,224 witnessed a Chris Levy drop goal give them a 17-16 home victory on family fun day, and when a late Lee Paterson penalty saw Mick Cook’s men famously come from 22-0 down to win 24-22 and seal the championship.

Since Paul March’s infamous switch sparked deeper rivalry, though, the Hawks won eight straight meetings, pierced only by a draw, until the Knights’ away victory earlier this year.

 

• HUNSLET go into tomorrow’s game with the best run of form in Championship One matches - and the second longest winning run currently in pro rugby league.

They’ve bagged six straight wins since their only league defeat of term, that 28-26 home reverse by York on March 9.

Leigh are the only undefeated side in the game this term, having won their first 14 matches of 2014, matching a club record for successive wins.

 

• MEANWHILE, David March one of the aforementioned ‘Headingleygate’ posse, has the longest run of consecutive appearances among Championship One players, with 34. March last missed a Hunslet game on March 10, 2013. His streak started on March 17, 2013.

 

• JACK LEE has taken a firm grip again on The Press Player of the Year proceedings thanks to his man-of-the-match display at Oldham last week.

Lee not only played the full 80 minutes at hooker in the searing heat but he was also central to the momentous fight-back which would have brought a memorable victory but for Oldham’s controversial late winner.

Oh, and he bagged a hat-trick too, to go level with Ben Dent and Jonny Presley at the top of the Knights’ tries in the league charts, with six.

His three Player of the Year points as man of the match lifts him to 13 for the season, now four ahead of second-placed James Haynes.

On-loan Brad Brennan jumps straight onto the leaderboard following an impressive debut off the bench (2pts), while Ben Reynolds, forgiven for his misses at goal which ultimately cost the Knights the spoils, was deemed our third-best player on the day (1pt) so ekes up his tally.

In the previous week’s win over Hemel, James Saltonstall was our man of the match (3pts) so makes further moves up the standings, Pat Smith, who kickstarted the successful comeback, was deemed our second-best player (2pts) and winger Dent, the club’s leading scorer in all competitions this term, bagged two more crucial tries and one assist to be named our third-best player (1pt) and get on the leaderboard not before time.

The Press Player of the Year leaderboard: Lee 13pts, Haynes 9, Aldous 8, Saltonstall 7, Paterson 5, P Smith 5, Presley 4, Bell 3, B Hardcastle 2, E Smith 2, Brennan 2, Reynolds 2, Minikin 1, Morrison 1, Mallinder 1, B Dent 1.

 

• THERE were also individual accolades this week for James Ford and Jack Aldous - despite the fact both missed out on The Press Player of the Year points.

The pair became the latest Knights to be named in the Championship One Team of the Week for the part they played in last week’s cracking match at Oldham.

Player/assistant-coach Ford caused the hosts plenty of problems at centre - he might be getting on in years but is still some player at this level, if he can stay fully fit - while in-form prop Aldous, despite being a doubt with a hamstring tweak, again got through tons of work and scored a fine try to boot, bamboozling his man with nifty footwork.

 

• THE Player of the Week in the Championship, meanwhile, was a certain ex-Knights favourite, Anthony Thackeray.

The half-back scored five tries and had a hand in two others as Dewsbury Rams came from behind to beat Barrow 42-30. It was a virtuoso performance described by Rams boss Glenn Morrison as “the best display I have seen from anyone all year”.