THE link-up with Leeds Rhinos hasn't so far brought many new faces on loan to York City Knights. But when they do come, they are usually pretty good.

Calvin Watson - remember him? - didn't reach the heights during his short spell at Huntington Stadium early last season, but winger Peter Fox was a big hit as he broke the club record for tries in a campaign, while head coach Mick Cook himself came from Leeds as part of the partnership and in his first year in charge lifted the National League Two Coach of the Year crown as he led his team to the title.

Cook's latest year-long loan ranger looks, on early reckoning, to be even better than his 2005 predecessor.

He probably won't score as many tries as Fox, but Jason Golden in last night's 50-10 Challenge Cup third round defeat of Ovenden won his third consecutive Evening Press man of the match accolade of the season - and there have only been five games so far.

Okay, last night's opposition were only amateurs but Golden nonetheless showed all the attributes of a back-rower heading for a good career in Super League. He ran good lines, had the pace to make the most of the gaps he found, showed skill and strength with ball in hand, and had no little bravery when playing on through bumps and bruises. Allied to that is a work-rate that would put a Trojan to shame.

He capped his display last night with a solo try two minutes from half-time which pretty much ended the game as a meaningful contest, at 16-4.

Ovenden battled gamely -a little too gamely at times with a few high tackles and a bit too much testosterone - and they gave the Knights a tougher work-out than perhaps the scoreline suggests, despite an awful start.

Their kick-off went all of six yards to give York an easy penalty and, from the attack, Phil Hasty put full-back Tom Dunmore in for his first try for the club. There were 52 seconds on the clock.

A complete walkover did not materialise, and went close before Mark Blanchard got his first try for the Knights, though how the officials did not spot John Smith's forward pass is a mystery.

Ovenden were not done, though, and, while they thought they had scored only for the ball to go missing in a multi-player bundle on the line, they did cross when some off-the-cuff rugby brought a fine try down the left for Richard Pearson.

Ovenden's tackling remained rough and ready but they overstepped the mark when, after a superb break from Golden, Dunmore was not allowed to play the ball by Pearson, who was sin-binned.

Golden's try eased any lingering concerns York fans may have had and the difference in standard was more evident immediately after the break as York upped the pace and reaped the reward with two tries for Smith.

Another Golden break brought a try for Jonny Liddell, who had moved to full-back after a head injury to Paul Clarke saw Dunmore switch to the wing. Rob Spicer also went off with a head injury, which saw Paterson play much of the game at centre.

Ovenden were tiring but kept trying, while York were at times sloppy, but the next try came when Jim Elston went scurrying over from dummy-half.

Two minutes later, Smith completed his hat-trick, with Hasty bagging his seventh conversion, but Ovenden did not give up and got a second try their efforts deserved as winger Matthew Short shrugged off Dunmore to score. Former Halifax player Danny Jones was delighted with his touchline conversion.

Dunmore, though, got his own back when beating Short in the race to a kick to skilfully touch down and bring up York's half-century.

Ovenden: McAdam, Short, Pearson, G Jones, Gracey, D Jones, Lister, English, Midgeley, Collins, Turner, Daly, Geoghegan. Subs (all used): Marsh, Williams, Sutcliffe, Taylor.

Tries: Pearson 29; Short 77.

Conversions: D Jones 77.

Penalties: None.

Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: Pearson 36.

Sent off: None.

Knights: Dunmore 7, Clarke 5, Blanchard 6, Spicer 5, Farrell 8, Thorman 6, Hasty 7, Sullivan 6, Liddell 7, Ward 5, Smith 8, Golden 9, Paterson 6. Subs (all used): Elston 6, Buckley 7, Bovill 5, O'Loughlin 6.

Tries: Dunmore 1, 79; Blanchard 20; Golden 38; Smith 42, 47, 71; Liddell 56; Elston 69

Conversions: Hasty 1, 38, 42, 47, 56, 69, 71.

Penalties: None.

Drop goal: None

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

Man of the match

Jason Golden a class apart in defence and attack, and worked his socks off too.

HT: 4-16.

Referee: Andy Grundy (Ossett). Rating: Heaven knows how Ovenden came out on top in the penalty count.

Penalty count: 8-5.

Gamebreaker: Tom Dunmore's try after 52 seconds gave York a head-start that Ovenden could ill afford.

Moment of the match: Ovenden's Danny Jones, taking his cue from the rival supporters' jibes at each other, aimed an "easy" clap at the York supporters after converting from the touchline late on.

Attendance: 521

Weather watch: Very, very cold.

Match rating: Actually not a bad contest in the heavy conditions, albeit with anxiety over whether any more Knights players would suffer injuries when things threatened to get feisty.

Updated: 11:01 Thursday, March 16, 2006