Keighley Cougars 32. York City Knights 6

Victory, following last week’s shock win over Championship One high-fliers Blackpool, would have brought a second-ever Northern Rail Cup semi-final for the Knights, and some kind of revenge for defeat in the play-offs last season.

But hosts Keighley, like last year, had a bit too much nous and too much much oomph in the pack, as well as the extra pace and quality that comes with playing regularly in the higher tier.

The 32-6 scoreline, however, was unkind on an injury-hit Knights side who had matched their hosts in many areas but lacked the kind of finishing power against stern defence that the hosts displayed. As coach James Ratcliffe said, finishes to sets in the red zone was a key difference.

The Knights had also given their all but suffered the blow of losing big new signing Danny Allan midway through the first half and, with substitute rotations also affected, they succumbed a little to tiredness late on, Keighley finishing and starting the stronger.

They had gone ahead with a Danny Jones penalty and they kept the pressure on, aided by the slope advantage.

They made more yards than York with every hit-up and had the bulk of possession and territory, and, after another penalty for offside, a little kick by Jon Presley saw Tom Sheldrake touch down. Points-machine Jones booted the first of five conversons from the touchline.

York waited 19 minutes for their first chance, when a bomb by Chris Thorman was spilled by Craig Moss under pressure from Danny Ratcliffe. That came to nothing but at least York began to get some field position.

However, just as they were getting a foothold they lost Allan to a shoulder injury after a huge collision with prop Brendan Rawlins.

Allan debuted along with fellow local lad Mike Embleton, the former at loose-forward, and second-row cum centre Embleton starting on the bench. But Allan’s debut lasted only 24 minutes.

The pair had come in for prop Nathan Freer (facial wound) and back-rower Jordan Ross (knee), who were injured last week and whose absences saw a minor reshuffle in the pack, with Jack Stearman starting up front – he made several notable drives – and Luke Hardbottle, busy last week at loose-forward, moving to the second row.

He again worked tirelessly but it was the other second-row, Matt Duckworth, who got York on the scoreboard. Sub prop Alex Benson was prominent in back play, and a kick by Chris Thorman bobbled through the legs of full-back Moss to give Duckworth an easy finish. Lee Waterman goaled.

The try-scorer soon went off, York Acorn captain Embleton making his second debut for the club, seven years after his first. He added his brand of Thanet Road aggression to the mix until tiring due to a lack of recent match action.

Keighley, though, increased their lead to 14-6 at half-time as Jamaine Wray scored a close-range try from dummy-half, something Knights fans were used to from his time at Huntington Stadium.

The Knights had the slope in the second half but it worked in the hosts’ favour five minutes after the restart as Jones’ clever chip held up on the bounce and centre Daley Williams got to the ball before Dennis Tuffour and juggled it on his way to the try-line.

Williams, of course, had been the villain of the piece in last year’s play-off semi-final after an incident which left Ratcliffe with a dislocated jaw and broken nose, but there was no sign of any leftover animosity.

A Thorman kick won a dropout at the other end as York tried to hit back, while, later, Jack Lee was held on his back over the try-line on the last tackle.

But the Knights’ continued pressure came to nothing and the Cougars broke away for Williams to finish his second and the hosts’ fourth try, the best of the lot.

Cougar Park has seen some famous comebacks, not least by York back in the Knights’ National League Two title-winning 2005 season.

But they were not going to come back from a 20-point deficit in 18 minutes against a team from a higher division – especially when Tom Lineham put down a gilt-edged chance after Waterman had fired the pass to him with an open ten-yard run to the try-line.

And it was certainly game over when Andy Shickell, with 11 minutes left, twisted over when really he should have been held short.

Match facts

Knights: Wilson 6, Tuffour 6, Mitchell 6, Waterman 6, Lineham 6, Thorman 7, Ratcliffe 6, Fallon 6, Lee 7, Stearman 7, Duckworth 7, Hardbottle 7, Allan 6.

Subs (all used): Williams 6, Embleton 6, Benson 7, Waller 6.

Tries: Duckworth 28.

Conversions: Waterman 28.

Penalties: None.

Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

Keighley: Moss, Duffy, Sheldrake, D Williams, Hutchinson, Presley, Jones, Law, Feather, Benjafield, Baines, Cartledge, Hughes.

Subs (all used): Wray, Hawthornthwaite, Rawlins, Shickell.

Tries: Sheldrake 16; Wray 37; D Williams 45, 62; Shickell 69.

Conversions: Jones 16, 37, 45, 62, 69.

Penalties: Jones 5.

Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

Man of the match: Luke Hardbottle – not the biggest forward but worked as hard as ever against much bigger men and again punched above his weight.

Referee: Ronnie Laughton (Barnsley) – okay.

Penalty count: 8-7.

Weather watch: wet, but showers held off until the last ten minutes.

Half-time: 14-6.

Attendance: 712.

Moment of the match: the rare try for Matt Duckworth, some minor reward for the Knights’ second-row who does a lot of work that goes unnoticed.

Gaffe of the match: Tom Lineham’s failure to take in Lee Waterman’s pass – albeit not the simplest of takes – when the try-line was begging and when the Knights needed a score to have any chance of a fightback.

Game-breaker: Daley Williams’ second try just after the hour mark put them 20 points ahead and Tom Lineham’s miss minutes later effectively ended the Knights’ hopes.

Match Rating: not a bad contest and in many respects evenly matched, but Keighley continued to tot up points whereas the Knights could not.