Betfred League One: Hemel Stags 6 York City Knights 56
Hemel: Welham, Forde, K Williams, A Williams, Fitzpatrick-Parry, Stamp, Smith, Taylor, Sheriff, Bell, Stock, Esslemont, Jowett. Subs (all used): Mitchell, Barlow, Decaro, Howieson.
Try: Howieson 73.
Conversion: Smith 73 (1/1).
Penalties: none.
Sent off: none.
Sin-binned: none.
Knights: Marsh 7, Chilton 6, Whiteley 6, Hey 8, Robson 7, Cockayne 7, C Robinson 7, Ronan Dixon 7, Jubb 7, Horne 6, Jordan-Roberts 7, Kelly 7, Spears 6. Subs (all used): Carter 7, Ormondroyd 7, Porter 6, Hawksworth 8.
Tries: Cockayne 6, 13, 35; Spears 10; C Robinson 19; Kelly 21; Carter 42; Marsh 58, 67; Hey 65.
Conversions: C Robinson 6, 10, 13, 19, 21, 35, 58, 67 (8/10).
Penalties: none.
Sent off: none.
Sin-binned: none.
Man of the match: Brad Hey constantly made ground down the inside left channel and got a deserved try on 65 minutes.
Referee: Andy Sweet (Castleford) – pretty good on a relatively easy day.
Penalty count: 6-6
Half-time: 0-36
Weather: windy.
Attendance: 400 approx (virtually all from York)
Moment of the match: Harry Carter’s superb 40-metre solo effort two minutes into the second half was the pick of the tries - scooting from dummy-half, evading tackles and speeding away from the full-back. Connor Robinson equalling Danny Brough's York RL record of 178 goals in a season with his eighth conversion of the day was an obvious highlight too.
Gaffe of the match: Will Jubb and Matt Chilton both dropped restarts early in the first half to invite some pressure on their goal-line, but it merely provided some decent practice for their defence.
Gamebreaker: the game was effectively won inside 13 minutes with three converted York tries, the minnows never likely to forge any way back.
Match rating: after back-to-back tough humdingers that went to the wire against Workington and Oldham, this was a straightforward victory. It was a little scruffy and uninspiring at times but, given the circumstances, that wasn’t too surprising - with the focus now very much on next week’s all-important home match against Whitehaven, and a victory that would seal the League One crown.
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