SLOW, slow, quick, quick, slow.

It was as if York City Knights and London Skolars were doing a foxtrot with muscle, with band conductor Scott Mikalauskas keeping the rhythm.

The quick, quick related to the Knights' six tries, where increased pace or good skill in a bit of broken play helped to speed things up and provide the thrills.

The slow, slow related to much of the rest of it, where cumbersome play-the-balls and sluggish ruck speed meant for relatively moderate excitement.

The Skolars can't really be blamed for their part. Slow movers up against John Travoltas will usually want to slow dance-offs down, either as a tactic to frustrate opponents into submission or error in the hope of sneaking a unlikely win, or for damage-limitation purposes, to find solid foundations from which to build.

But had referee Mikalauskas clamped down on it, it may have forced them to speed things up and fans could have had the fun and excitement of a jive and a hot shoe shuffle or two.

Ironically, he ignored London's blatant attempts to slow down proceedings to such an extent that, after sending off Will Lovell for dissent ten minutes from time, he didn't realise the second-row was still slowly trudging off the field when the Knights kicked the penalty and got the game going again.

Nevertheless, York's 28-10 win go them off to a decent enough start to their League One campaign and made it three wins out of three in all competitions.

There had been one or two surprises in their line-up – not least the late withdrawal of Ben Dent.

The winger, laid low in the off-season by migraine-like symptoms, had been named in the starting 13 after being given the all-clear from doctors, but – frustratingly for the player and the club – the medic in charge did not send signed confirmation as promised in time to satisfy Rugby Football League rules.

In his stead came Brad Hey, likewise fit again following his broken arm. Hey started at centre with James Morland moving to the wing – and their performances, plus three fine tries between them, suggested Dent may have to wait even longer to make his 2016 bow.

Another surprise was the absence of Ryan Mallinder.

Ford had said there were “one or two” niggling injuries but it had been intimated that Ed Smith was the biggest doubt. In-form Smith, though, took his place in the second row, with loan signing Jordan Crowther in for Mallinder.

Prop Russ Spiers also returned in place of Tyler Craig.

After a nip-and-tuck opening, Kriss Brining, following on from his try at the end of the Knights’ cup win over York Acorn ARLC, again did as Kriss Brining does – scoring from dummy-half.

Danny Nicklas converted, although, like against Acorn, his goal-kicking was not on the money as he bagged only two from six, while his field kicking was at times wayward too, blighting an otherwise decent show.

The hosts’ hard defence was the most telling factor for the next 20 minutes before they upped their lead.

They passed up the chance for an easy two points when - in a rarity - Mikalauskas penalised the visitors for slowing down the play-the-ball after Mark Applegarth had pounced on a Skolars fumble.

It paid off as Jonny Presley’s long pass was well taken by Hey, who sent Morland into the corner.

That penalty aside, Ford, having predicted a faster-paced game than against Acorn, was getting visibly frustrated on the sidelines by the slowness of play-the-balls: eyes fixed on Mikalauskas, arms permanently outstretched.

He was cheered seven minutes into the second half by a brilliant try.

Smith began a free play as he smartly gathered a Skolars fumble and superbly slipped the ball on half-way to Morland, who did the rest in the moment of the match.

Two York fumbles and two penalties allowed Skolars to get on the front foot but York's forceful defence - a feature of the opening three games - was again up to the task.

Back at the other end, a swift move ended with winger Brett Turner diving into the corner from Rich Wilkinson’s pass for a third try in the three games.

York were finally undone four minutes later as Ergon Dollapi's strength caught them out as he twisted over the whitewash.

But York replied immediately as, following an attack in centre-field, the ball was swiftly moved right and Hey scored.

After Lovell casually departed, that same right-wing combination created a try for Mark Applegarth, Morland’s inside pass to take out defenders particularly impressive.

Victory assured, Ford would not have been happy with a try for the 12 men on the hooter, Alex Anthony the scorer, with Charlie Lawrence adding his second conversion.

MATCH STATS

Knights 28 Skolars 12

Knights: Wilkinson 6, Turner 8, Hay 7, Bower 6, Morland 8, Presley 7, Nicklas 6, Waller 7, Brining 6, Aldous 7, E Smith 7, Tonks 7, Emmett 7. Subs (all used): Carter 8, Applegarth 7, Spiers 7, Crowther 6.

Tries: Brining 10; Morland 30, 47; Turner 57; Hey 64; Applegarth 75.

Conversions: Nicklas 10, 47.

Skolars: Anthony, Nash, Small, Price, Paxton, Coleman, Lawrence, Everett, M Bishay, Williams, Worrincy, Lovell, Mbaraga. Subs (all used): Pointer, Magrin, Dollapi, Robinson.

Tries: Dollapi 61; Anthony 80.

Conversions: Lawrence 61, 80.

Sent off: Lovell 70.

Man of the match: sub hooker Harry Carter – not only did he run the game well after entering the fray but he lifted the crowd with some crunching tackles, dumping much bigger men on their backsides, not least when big Skolars sub Jon Magrin targeted the little hooker in the first hit-up of the second half and immediately regretted it.

Referee: Scott Mikalauskas (Leigh) – allowed the game to be played at such a slow pace that a dead tortoise could have got involved in rucks and still been the fasting thing to move.
Penalty count: 10-8

Weather: fresh but cold, with a few gentle snowflakes falling in the second half.

Half-time: 10-0

Attendance: 554

Moment of the match: James Morland’s second try. Ed Smith began a free play after scooping up a Skolars fumble and slipping the ball to Morland on half-way. The threequarter then showed deceptive footwork and pace as he carved through two defenders and skipped around the cover before arcing to the posts for an easy conversion.

Gaffe of the match: Either Richard Wilkinson or Brett Turner should have put a name on it as they both ran across field, in each other’s direction, to catch a high kick. The crowd could see what was going to happen and the pair duly collided under the ball – Turner catching it and leaving Wilkinson winded and needing treatment.

Gamebreaker: Brett Turner’s try, diving in on the left hand side, put the Knights four scores up at 20-0 with little more than a quarter of the game to go.

Match rating: The Skolars were probably tougher than many people probably thought after their defeat to Pilkington Recs last week so York needed a decent performance to see them off, but the game would have been considerably more entertaining had it been considerably faster, like the Knights wanted.