York City Knights knock Newcastle out of Challenge Cup

Two early tries from Craig Mullen, who twice profited from some below-par York defence, saw Newcastle in front after the opening quarter.

From that point onwards, the Knights controlled the contest and, barring a drop goal, kept the full-time Newcastle scoreless.

Matty Marsh scored twice for home side in another stand-out display from full-back while interchanges Ronan Dixon and Marcus Stock made try-scoring impacts from the bench.

The most pleasing aspect of the cup triumph was the performances of York’s young crop of teenage talent.

18-year-olds Bradley Ward, AJ Towse and Toby Warren all came in from the start and the former, on debut, in particular impressed on his first outing, with a late try just rewards for his display.

Despite their youthful ages, all three did not look out of place physically, with Ward and Towse both carrying hard and with purpose.

Also making his York bow was centre Jacob Ogden while Kriss Brining and Stock returned to the fold too.

Rested wingers Joe Brown and Will Oakes dropped out as did the cup-tied James Clare, the suspended Pauli Pauli, the injured Chris Clarkson and Sam Davis.

From the match’s early minutes, it was clear that this new-look Knights side were intent on playing some attacking free-flowing rugby but too often were guilty of overplaying in the opposition half.

Meanwhile at the other end, plenty of questions were asked about York’s defence in a heavy defeat to Leigh Centurions last time out, and they remained during the first quarter.

Full-back Mullen cut inside after a shift left and far too easily beat a couple of Knights defenders to score on five minutes.

York’s response was swift and strong as, on the back of a goal-line drop-out which Jamie Ellis’ kick won, Liam Harris grubbed for his fellow half to ground.

Ellis converted his own try, the first of seven tries from as many attempts.

The Knights were still susceptible at the back to Mullen’s dancing feet. He waltzed through some more tame defence after Newcastle won a repeat set.

Jake Shorrocks added to his earlier conversion to put Newcastle back in front.

To this point, York’s one bright spark was Ward, who proved willing both in attack and defence. It was the teenager’s quick 20m restart which put the hosts on the front foot and eventually saw Matty Marsh break through the middle to send over Ronan Dixon, in his first touch off the bench.

Another York try soon followed with Marsh turning scorer as some sublime handling allowed him to ground an inside pass close to the line from James Glover’s break.

Newcastle remained well in the contest up until the break and while their forwards made plenty of metres, they lacked a cutting edge in attack when unable to utilise Mullen’s footwork.

Late in the half, Thunder threw the ball wide but it was picked off smartly by Harris who ran to the try-line from halfway.

With less than 10 seconds left after a stoppage in play, Josh Woods chose to put over a drop goal for the visitors, who trailed by 11 points at the interval.

A few minutes after the interval, a three-man tackle left Jay Chapelhow screaming in pain down by the dugouts and the forward was stretchered off the field with a suspected knee injury.

York were the quickest to react after the lengthy stoppage and they twice forced Newcastle to start sets from deep as they piled on the pressure.

Interchange Marcus Stock went over for the well-deserved try, diving under the sticks after a Harris dummy and break.

Trailing by three scores, Newcastle needed a reply and quickly, perhaps as a result such urgency led to several handling whenever they entered good ball positions.

It took until the 67th minute before could eventually put some more points on the board on the back of some sustained pressure as Thunder went out of yardage.

This time it was Jordan Thompson’s turn to squeeze through the middle of the pitch and, to no one’s surprise, it was the supporting Marsh who went under the posts.

In the dying stages, there remained time for York to cross the whitewash once more and there could not have been a more deserving scorer than Ward.

Having displayed some tough defence, he produced an acrobatic finish by the corner to finish a clever shift to the right.

It was a debut to remember for the former Heworth junior and a fitting end to a fine afternoon.

York: Marsh, Ward, Glover, Ogden, Towse, Harris, Ellis, Matongo, Jubb, Michael, Warren, Kirmond, Thompson.

Subs (all used): Brining, Teanby, Dixon, Stock.

Tries: Ellis (9’), Dixon (23’), Marsh (26’, 67’), Harris (37’), Stock (48’), Ward (80’)

Goals: Ellis (7/7)

York’s player of the match: Matty Marsh. Two tries from the full-back and a strong all-round display.

Newcastle Thunder: Mullen, Donaghy, Sutton, Nokes, Boafo, Shorrocks, Woods, Moran, Eaves, T. Chapelhow, Nicholson, Gallagher, Hallas.

Subs (all used): Peachey, J. Chapelhow, N. Wilde, Conner Bailey.

Tries: Mullen (5’, 15’)

Goals: Shorrocks (2/2)

Field goals: Woods (40’)

Referee: Scott Mikalauskas

Attendance: 1,221