YORK City Knights couldn't hold Ian Smith culpable this time.

The referee, who sent Jamie Bovill off inside five minutes last week to herald an opening-day defeat to Hull KR, was in charge at Don Valley Stadium last night as the Knights fell to a 29-24 Northern Rail Cup loss to Sheffield.

Smith was not error-free and had a hand in the Eagles' opening try when penalising York twice in a minute, but the Knights had only themselves to blame for the defeat.

That should not take anything away from the home team. They might still be a National League Two side, unlike promoted York, but they have recruited a fair few players of NL1 standard and they are no mugs.

However, despite an improved last half-hour and good snippets of play throughout, the visitors looked under-par and paid the price for building little pressure, being indifferent in the tackle and being off the ball for too long.

Referee Smith did nothing to boost his rating among York fans when he penalised the Knights at their own play-the-ball and, after Craig Poucher had missed the shot, deemed the visitors offside at the restart.

Sheffield ran this penalty and crossed the whitewash through Andy Hay, Poucher goaling the first of his three conversions.

Soon after, York winger Lee Lingard dropped a bomb in the red zone and the defence could not hold out as Andy Smith broke in.

Referee Smith then gave a penalty for a foul on winger Rob Worrincy by Jamie Bovill, which Poucher goaled to make it 14-0. It looked an innocuous challenge from up in the Gods, but at least Bovill was not sent off.

The Eagles looked more confident in throwing the ball about but a risky forward pass ten yards from their line gave York excellent position and Jim Elston - making an impact as usual off the bench - dummied from acting-half and darted to the line. Phil Hasty booted the first of four goal attempts.

Elston then punished poor marker play with a break from inside his own half and his pass inside gave fellow substitute John Smith a 25-metre run home.

It looked like York, despite their errors, would go in only two points down. However, their tackling was not up to scratch all game and they were made to pay on the hooter as Sheffield full-back Johnny Woodcock broke through - showing exactly why York had wanted to bring him back to Huntington Stadium - and his pass saw James Ford outstrip the cover.

The game had been stop-start thanks to Smith's whistle - there had been six penalties apiece - and dropped ball from both sides, but the Eagles deserved their 20-12 interval lead and extended it five minutes into the second half as a solid set ended with a Gavin Brown drop-goal.

Brown then booted a 40-20 and, from the scrum, Knights centre Craig Farrell was held off too easily by Poucher, who reached the line.

A fourth consecutive home set came to nothing, but the Knights looked worn out.

Coach Mick Cook, who often changed his line-up at this stage of last season, had picked the same 17 as five days ago, barring Adam Sullivan who was in for knee injury victim Mark Cain, and maybe he could have brought more fresh legs in following the energy-sapping efforts against Hull KR.

However, he reckoned his players should not have been jaded and he looked right as they threatened a comeback.

They were lifted by a questionable penalty for reefing, after which Elston's pass saw David Bates crash over.

Then a great move left to right ended with Jason Golden sending Rob Spicer in, only for the touch judge to call a forward pass. Nevertheless, Elston sent Sullivan blasting through, the conversion making it 25-24 with nine minutes left.

The pressure, however, waned and Sheffield broke forward with winger Greg Hurst squeezing in at the left corner.

And when referee Smith deemed Mark Blanchard to have dropped the ball when held up at the other end, York's last chance was gone.

Eagles: Woodock, Hurst, Ford, Poucher, Worrincy, Lindsay, Presley, Howieson, Brentley, Morton, Hay, C Brown, A Smith. Subs (all used): G Brown, Ostler, Dickinson, Fletcher.

Tries: Hay 6; A Smith 13; Ford 40; Poucher 47; Hurst 75.

Cons: Poucher 6, 13, 40.

Penalties: Poucher 21.

Drop goals: G Brown 45.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

Knights: Blaymire 7, Lingard 5, Farrell 5, Spicer 6, Clarke 5, Rhodes 6, Hasty 6, Buckley 6, Liddell 5, Bovill 6, Golden 5, Blanchard 5, Paterson 5. Subs (all used): Elston 8, J Smith 6, Sullivan 7, Bates 7.

Tries: Elston 28; J Smith 36; Bates 53; Sullivan 71.

Cons: Hasty 28, 36, 53, 71.

Penalties: None.

Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

Man of the match

Jim Elston -the substitute hooker scored a solo try and set up York's other three touchdowns in a typically busy display.

HT: 20-12

Referee: Ian Smith (Oldham).

Rating: Questionable decisions both ways.

Penalty count: 10-11

Moment of the match: Jim Elston's try, where his flamboyant dummy parted the Sheffield defence like Moses parted the Red Sea.

Gamebreaker: Greg Hurst's 75th-minute try took the umph out of the comeback York threatened.

Attendance: 1,145

Weather watch: Dry, mild February evening.

Match rating: Okay Friday night entertainment, although an at times lacklustre performance by York made it all a bit frustrating.

Updated: 09:46 Saturday, February 18, 2006