York City Knights edged out in Championship One thriller at Oldham

The Roughyeds breezed 27-0 up inside half an hour and left shell-shocked York staring at humiliation.

Out of nowhere, though, came an amazing turnaround, which saw the Knights go 30-27 ahead with 15 minutes to go, leaving them eyeing probably their finest fightback victory since the days, almost a decade ago, of Mick Cook's comeback kings.

However, of their seven tries scored, the visitors incomprehensibly converted only one, with James Haynes and Ben Reynolds taking it in turns to send the ball wide. Or, on one occasion seemingly straight through the middle - only for the touch judges to inexplicably decide this one had likewise missed.

And, as it turned out, these misses, three of which were from virtually in front - plus that eye-popping decision by the linesmen - ultimately proved their downfall, as a rare second-half Oldham attack with three minutes to go ended in a match-winning try for Roughyeds full-back Steven Neild.

Even that was controversial as several Knights players were adamant the hosts had knocked on amid several ricochets and desperate defence.

However, referee Adam Gill was just as quick to award the try as he had been to disallow two at the other end.

In the end, it was a first-half drop goal by Oldham's impressive scrum-half, Brett Robinson, which proved the difference on the scoreboard, even if it had been designed to turn the screw rather than edge victory.

It was therefore ironic, given victory came down to goals, that Oldham boss Scott Naylor had opted to keep intact Robinson's in-form half-back partnership with Lewis Palfrey, who added three conversions, rather than give on-loan half-back Steve Roper his debut, whereas York counterpart Gary Thornton had axed his half-back pairing, including Benn Hardcastle - hitherto the division's leading goalscorer.

Thornton, with James Haynes back at full-back, chose to partner Reynolds and Pat Smith in the halves and, aside the goals, it did pay off as the busy pair offered plenty in attack - enough for their side to score more tries than the hosts.

The recruitment of Brad Brennan was also inspired as the prop, brought in due to injuries in the camp, made a big difference off the bench.

There was one surprise debutant in the home line-up, meanwhile. Jon Ford, Oldham’s top try-scorer last year with 21, is back at Whitebank and made his second debut on dual-reg from Salford following a spell at Sheffield.

It was he who provided the scoring pass for their first try, too, sending winger Dale Bloomfield racing home in acres of space after a couple of offloads, initially from the in-form second-row Dany Langtree, had drawn defenders inside.

It was the first of five tries in 19 minutes that blew the visitors away. A cross-field kick from Robinson was superbly taken and touched down by Mo Agoro, David Cookson crashed in, Robinson’s cut-out pass gave Bloomfield an easy run-in, and the winger completed a hat-trick after sliding in to beat Haynes to Robinson’s kick to the corner, then rolled over the York full-back to plant the ball down.

Robinson also kicked his drop-goal, with little idea it would prove so vital.

In between times, the one time York touched the ball in half-decent territory, James Ford passed out wide to Dent and Dent was tackled into touch. On the first tackle.

The Knights also lost loose-forward Lee Paterson amid their half-hour nightmare, but then began their remarkable response.

They were piggybacked upfield by penalties, before Brennan drove forward and got out an offload that provided Jack Lee with the half-chance he needed, Haynes adding York's sole goal.

Soon enough, prop Jack Aldous danced in like a half-back, and suddenly York's tails were up.

From the restart, James Saltonstall created space and sent James Ford flying forward. He was halted, as was Jack Iley with the line in sight, but Oldham were penalised for offside and, from the penalty, Lee successfully went by himself.

The second half began like the first ended. Palfrey’s restart went out on the full and in the attack that followed Ryan Backhouse got an incredible pass out of the tackle for Reynolds to cross.

Another chance went begging as Reynolds skipped through but was deemed to lose the ball when reaching for the line.

The gap still reduced further as Ryan Mallinder strode through a huge gap. This time Reynolds got the conversion on target - only for the officials to make their bewildering call.

Lee then got his hat-trick, going by himself from dummy-half again with the defence parting again.

Backhouse had a try ruled out for offside from Pat Smith’s grubber, and York had further misfortune as Iley limped out.

But, after more pressure, Saltonstall put them ahead when racing onto Reynolds’ smart kick.

The spoils were seemingly now York's - but then came that late sucker punch.

Match facts

Oldham: Neild, Agoro, Cookson, Ford, Bloomfield, Palfrey, Robinson, Joy, Whitmore, Ward, Crowley, Langtree, Tyson. Subs (all used): Hughes, Davidson, Files, Mason.
Tries: Bloomfield 7, 18, 26; Agoro 12; Cookson 15; Neild 77.
Conversions: Palfrey 7, 15, 18.
Drop goal: Robinson 23
Penalties: none.
Sin-binned: none
Sent off: none.

Knights: Haynes 6, Saltonstall 7, Ford 7, Minikin 7, B Dent 7, P Smith 7, Reynolds 8, Pickles 6, Lee 8, Aldous 8, Mallinder 6, E Smith 6, Paterson 5. Subs (all used): Iley 7, Brennan 8, Backhouse 6, Craig 6.
Tries: Lee 33, 39, 54; Aldous 36; Reynolds 41; Mallinder 52; Saltonstall 65.
Conversions: Haynes 33.
Drop goals: none.
Penalties: none.
Sin-binned: none.
Sent off: none.

Man of the match: Jack Lee – his two first-half tries kick-started York and his hat-trick score maintained their ascendancy as he took it upon himself to drag his side from the verge of humiliation to the brink of one the finest comeback victories in the club’s recent history.

Referee: Adam Gill (Widnes) – could have done with a video ref to aid some key decisions.

Penalties: 5-10.

Half-time: 27-14.

Attendance: 579.

Weather: sunny and hot.

Moment of the match: the pick of the Knights' seven tries was probably Ben Reynolds' effort, not just for the fine finish but the quite superb pass out of the tackle by Ryan Backhouse.

Gaffe of the match: the decision by James Haynes and Ben Reynolds to leave their shooting boots at home as their missed conversions, especially the three from virtually in front of the sticks, ultimately cost York victory.

Gamebreaker: Steven Neild’s late winner for Oldham, which several Knights players say should have been disallowed for a knock-on amid ricochets here and there.

Match rating: a game of lows and highs but still, disregarding the poor venue, a great advert for Championship One.