Betfred League One

Keighley Cougars 14 York City Knights 46

Keighley: Hawkyard, Aaronson, Whiteley, Ryder, Gabriel, Hardcastle, Beharrell, Bailey, Wright, Griffin, Parker, Tonks, Emmett. Subs (all used): Conroy, Rawlins, Hallas, Nicholson.

Tries: Whiteley 27; Gabriel 32; Nicholson 68.

Conversions: Hardcastle 27 (1/3).

Penalties: none.

Sent off: none.

Sin-binned: Nicholson 21; Nicholson 54.

Knights: Robson 8, Oakes 8, Batchelor 8, Hey 8, Mazive 8, Cockayne 9, C Robinson 8, Dixon 8, Ellis 8, Hawksworth 8, Kelly 8, Scott 8, Spears 8. Subs (all used): A Robinson 8, Horne 8, Porter 9, Jubb 8.

Tries: Spears 12; Jubb 23; C Robinson 39; Batchelor 47; Horne 61; Porter 78; Kelly 80.

Conversions: C Robinson 12, 23, 39, 47 (4/4); Robson 61, 78, 80 (3/3).

Penalties: Robson 54, 72 (2/2).

Sent off: none.

Sin-binned: Spears 21.

Man of the match: Joe Porter – there was several deserving candidates, but the York born and bred packman’s infectious attitude and willingness to work anywhere anyhow gives him the nod. The former York Acorn amateur was even shifted out into the centres to cover for injuries and he duly capped his day with a try as his team put gloss on an excellent victory.

Referee: Billy Pearson (Barnsley) – had a busy day. His decisions could not be overly criticised but his control on proceedings maybe could have been better. It will be interesting to see if any Keighley players are punished retrospectively for seemingly manhandling Connor Robinson after he was floored with a head injury.

Penalty count: 10-12

Half-time: 10-18

Weather: very hot and sunny.

Attendance: 698

Moment of the match: Connor Robinson had earlier seen a pass picked off for a length-of-the-field interception try by Keighley centre Perry Whiteley. On the stroke of half-time, the tables were turned. With the Cougars seeking a try to take the lead, the ball went to ground close to York’s line and Robinson picked up and set off, holding off the chasers in an impressive 80-odd metres sprint up the sideline. After catching his breath, he added a fine conversion from wide out, too.

Gaffe of the match: This one has to go to the officials. There was a five-and-a-half-minute delay while Connor Robinson was treated and helped off the field after a high tackle and controversial aftermath, but referee Billy Pearson reportedly didn’t stop the clock. There was then another delay – one of many - as he explained to the timekeepers that he had apparently authorised a touch judge to signal the stoppage. Amid the confusion, the clocks (we think) were re-set and off we went again.

Gamebreaker: Keighley were given a tiny glimmer of hope when ex-Knight Brad Nicholson – who had actually had some decent involvements for the short time he was on the field as opposed to being in the sin-bin – pulled the score back to 32-14 with 12 minutes left in which to find three more tries. But Ash Robson’s penalty – the full-back having taken over the goalkicking from the crocked Connor Robinson – killed those negligible hopes and two late tries put more lovely gloss on the scoreboard.

Match rating: this was an eventful game in which the Knights, with every player playing his full part, again underlined their promotion credentials – taking a comprehensive victory on a ground where historically they have found points hard to come by.