JONNY PRESLEY scored two tries and set up two more – including the 77th-minute winner – on an afternoon of personal satisfaction against former club Keighley.

His efforts also helped his new team, York City Knights, gain their first win of the season, 28-22.

However, Toulouse’s win over London on Saturday meant yesterday’s Huntington Stadium encounter was a Northern Rail Cup dead rubber, and it was also another unsatisfactory performance overall from the Knights following their nightmare draw in the capital last week.

They now have only next Sunday’s Challenge Cup tie against the students of Northumbria University to put things right ahead of the big Championship opener against arch-rivals Hunslet.

And much could yet depend on the two half-backs.

Boss Dave Woods had warned over the weekend he would not be afraid to drop either of them if they did not perform, despite there being moderate competition for their spots.

Scrum-half Presley responded with those key incisions on proceedings, but stand-off Chris Thorman was again below-par and Woods was not over-enamoured by their contributions.

The ball was not spread wide enough fast enough, leaving the threequarters with little to feed on.

That said, the attacking lines were at times far too flat, leaving the half-backs with little option but to take the tackles from an enthusiastic Keighley defence which – pushing the offside rule to the limit – quickly closed down the playmaking pair.

A potentially dangerous back line – including Castleford loanee Jordan Thompson on debut – was thus kept out of the game as York’s forwards slugged it out with Keighley’s decent pack.

The home defence was likewise pretty good, meaning the contest became a routine affair for large parts, with little creativity.

That also meant one mistake could have proven costly, which it very nearly did for Ryan Esders.

The Knights’ fiery second-row lashed out at Chris Baines when in possession at a play-the-ball and this brought the inevitable yellow card, despite protestations Baines had stamped on him.

Keighley crossed twice while York were a man down and would have gone ahead with eight minutes left if Danny Lawton had converted the second.

Woods and Esders seemed to have words when the latter came off the pitch, and the fact another player went back on once his ten minutes were up suggests what the coach thought about it.

All had begun well for the hosts as scrum-half Presley’s fine pass sent centre Duane Straugheir on a diagonal to the whitewash. Chris Thorman curled in the first of his four conversions.

But it was not until the half-hour mark that the match came to life again.

Cougars substitute prop Ryan Benjafield barged off Straugheir to crash over from close-range, Danny Lawton equalising with the first of his three goals.

Five minutes later, Esders kept the ball alive well, and Straugheir broke a tackle and offloaded to Dennis Tuffour. This created a two-on-one and the winger sent in Presley.

Keighley winger Richard Lopag had a try ruled out for a forward pass by centre Ben Sagar under pressure from Tuffour, and, on the other side of half-time, team-mate James Hutchinson was held inches short.

The sides continued to chug away before proceedings were lit up by the try of the match.

Jack Lee broke through from dummy-half and passed to Esders, who slipped a pass out of the back of the hand for Presley to dash home.

Keighley hit back, though, after a Thorman kick was charged down on half-way and hacked on.

Home full-back Sam Lynch made ground to win the sprint to the ball, but referee Wayne Turley controversially deemed he knocked on and, following the scrum ten yards from the whitewash, prop Brendan Rawlins span in the tackle to barge under the sticks.

Lynch otherwise had a decent debut, highlights being a 60-metre sprint turning defence into attack, and a fine cover tackle.

A third York debutant was fit-again Rhys Clarke who played 35 sound minutes after coming on as a substitute forward.

Straugheir showed what could happen if York got the ball wide when, within two minutes of Rawlins’ try, he beat three defenders with dancing footwork to score his second try of the match and strengthen his claims to make a hotly-contested centre berth his own.

However, the 64th minute brought Esders’ yellow card and in the subsequent eight minutes Paul Drake breezed home in centre-field and Dan Belcher finished in the corner after Keighley had worked an overlap with a cut-out pass.

The scores were level and Keighley were probably on top.

However, they knocked on at a play-the-ball in their own half and the Knights got their late winner.

Fans awaited a drop-goal attempt from Thorman as the forwards drove the ball towards the sticks, but York instead went left where Presley – who seconds earlier had been denied a hat-trick try by a fine tackle – sent John Davies to the whitewash.


Match facts

Knights: Lynch 6, Bell 6, Thompson 6, Straugheir 7, Tuffour 6, Thorman 6, Presley 7, Massey 7, Lee 7, B Jones 7, Davies 6, Esders 5, Benson 6.

Subs (all used): Stearman 7, Barlow 6, Clarke 7, Lewis 7.

Tries: Straugheir 6, 57; Presley 34, 51; Davies 77.

Conversions: Thorman 6, 34, 51, 77.

Penalties: None.

Sin-binned: Esders 64.

Keighley: Belcher, Lopag, Lawton, Sagar, Hutchinson, Drake, Helliwell, Rawlins, Feather, Jones, Baines, Shepherd, Haythornthwaite.

Subs (all used): Wray, Barr, Nicholson, Benjafield.

Tries: Benjafield 29; Rawlins 55; Drake 66; Belcher 72. Conversions: Lawton 29, 55, 66.

Penalties: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Man of the match: Nathan Massey – another all-action display from the Castleford prop with aspirations of a Super League future.

Referee: Wayne Turley (Leigh) – okay, assuming Keighley weren’t regularly offside like York fans thought.

Penalty count: 6-8.

Attendance: 748.

Half-time: 12-6.

Weather: cloudy and breezy.

Moment of the match: most of York’s best moments had come in defence, with cracking hits by Nathan Massey and Steve Lewis, but Jonny Presley’s second try – speeding in from Ryan Esders’ skilful pass following Jack Lee’s break – topped the lot.

Gaffe of the match: Ryan Esders’ decision to punch out at Chris Baines was never going to be ignored by the officials and the resultant yellow card was costly.

Gamebreaker: fans were expecting a drop-goal attempt but the Knights went left where Presley sent in John Davies for the 77th-minute winning try.

Match rating: routine affair for much of the afternoon.