WHAT a good job it was that Ed and Pat Smith’s dad was in the crowd to watch his lads take on League One leaders Rochdale.

The match doctor didn’t show, meaning the game couldn’t go ahead - before Dr Rob Smith volunteered his services.

After a ten-minute delay as he got kitted out, York City Knights went on to give their best, most enthusiastic, most complete performance of the season to not only beat the Hornets and end their proud unbeaten league record but send them packing back to Lancashire with their stings between their legs - the 40-12 scoreline hardly doing York’s dominance justice.

On a low after last Saturday’s agonising iPro Cup final defeat? Pah. Three games in a week? Bah. The heat sapping what energy they had left out of their legs? Pah and bah.

York scored eight tries, Rochdale – maybe caught cold after a fortnight off – just two.

The result even topped the Knights’ 40-16 iPro Cup win at Rochdale earlier in the year – the Hornets’ only other defeat to League One opposition this term.

The two coaches had been singing the praises of each other’s teams in the build-up but there was no love lost between the players early on with two lots of handbags in the first ten minutes, both sides eager to stamp authority on proceedings.

After big Brett Waller - prominent early on along with John Tonks - went close, a Rochdale knock-on and a penalty set the platform for York's opener.

Ed Smith, hat-trick hero in midweek, came up with some more magic, collecting a pass from Jonny Presley around his ankles and sending in Austin Buchanan.

The veteran winger was one of three changes to the side that saw off Coventry on Wednesday – James Morland also back in the threequarters and fit-again packman Matty Dale returning to the bench for the first time since the loss at Barrow last month, the Knights’ only defeat of the League One season. All impressed.

It meant the majority of the team were playing their third game in eight days, and on such a hot day it was going to test their energy levels.

They wouldn’t have been helped by Ross Divorty’s risky offload that handed the Hornets an attacking set – York’s only mistake of the stanza - but the defence forced the error, two penalties took play up the other end and a third saw Danny Nicklas eke up the lead to 8-0.

The scrum-half’s goalkicking this year has been inconsistent – as it was again here - but his touchline conversion from Buchanan’s try obviously upped his confidence.

Indeed the whole team were buoyant – free of mistakes, enthusiastic, enterprising, making the metres, keeping Rochdale on the back foot. Those energy levels were certainly surprising the visiting faithful.

Then when Smith forced Dale Boomfield into touch, the hosts had another attacking set - Presley’s clever little dab giving Buchanan his second try.

A rare Rochdale penalty could have changed momentum but York’s eagerness was underlined as Buchanan, scampering, was first onto a loose ball.

Was 12-0 a fair reflection? Probably not, but it became 16-0 just before half-time as Nicklas dummied and shot through a stretched defence from close range.

And then it was 22-0. Tommy Saxton’s little chip bounced kindly for Morland, whose quick hands sent Ben Dent flying home, Nicklas converting. It was the least Dent deserved for a tip-top performance, his best for some time.

Ford had called on the fans to back his boys and they did so, this score making them even noisier.

It was Saxton’s last act, though, a hamstring pull sidelining him thereafter.

Rochdale hadn’t been great but hadn’t been poor either, just overrun.

They did cock up on the resumption, though. Lucky to have been handed a scrum as an attacking York pass was deemed forward, they were penalised for obstruction in the first tackle, and Kriss Brining spotted the chance from dummy-half and got his trademark try.

The half-time break hadn't interrupted York’s enthusiasm.

Nicklas, excellent with the ball, again dummied and darted and got a great pass out of the tackle which Josh Tonks collected under pressure and touched down.

In a rare Rochdale excursion, courtesy of two quick penalties, the visitors did go close, but regular try-getter Jono Smith could not break their duck, held on his back over the whitewash.

However, it would have been some achievement for any defence to nil a top side on such a hot day, and, past the hour-mark, the Hornets did score from a kick.

Morland, now on the wing, tried to pat the ball dead but it landed in-goal and Dale Bloomfield pounced, Paul Crook converting.

Still, the Knights quickly struck back, Nicklas again the creator, Tonks the scorer.

Hornets hooker Ben Moores was also sin-binned for an off-the-ball incident.

The visitors had a massive slice of fortune when referee Callum Straw missed a knock-on, instead handing them another attacking set - Jono Smith getting his regulation try, Crook the conversion.

But York forced one final error in Rochdale’s rearguard and Pat Smith sent Mike Emmett crashing over, Nicklas goaling.

MATCH FACTS

Knights 40 Rochdale 12

Knights: B Dent 9, Saxton 8, Morland 8, E Smith 8, Buchanan 9, Presley 8, Nicklas 9, Waller 9, P Smith 8, Aldous 9, Tonks 9, Divorty 8, Emmett 8. Subs (all used): Brining 8, Dale 8, Applegarth 9, Spiers 9.

Tries: Buchanan 12, 26; Nicklas 34; B Dent 40; Brining 43; Tonks 49, 65; Emmett 80.

Conversions: Nicklas 12, 40, 80.

Penalties: Nicklas 18.

Sent off: none.

Sin-binned: none.

Rochdale: English, Bloomfield, Ratu, Galbraith, Riley, Crook, Yates, Thompson, Moores, Tahraoui, J Smith, Philbin, Tilley. Subs (all used): McClurg, Hadden, Trumper, Murray.

Tries: Bloomfield 63; J Smith 72.

Conversions: Crook 63, 72.

Penalties: none.

Sent off: none.

Sin-binned: Moores 65.

Man of the match: Ben Dent – the pack deserve accolades aplenty, Aldous, Spiers, Waller, Applegarth, Tonks, etc all showing immense energy and drive – but full-back Dent gets the nod for a tip-top show, likewise full of energy and off-the-ball running, which heralded a personal return to form, in the face of some recent criticism too.

Referee: Callum Straw (Wakefield) – somehow missed a late knock-on to hand Rochdale an attacking set, from which they scored, and Ben Dent’s try may have had a forward pass in back play, but he was otherwise okay.

Penalty count: 7-6

Weather: Hot.

Half-time: 22-0

Attendance: 613

Moment of the match: Tommy Saxton’s little chip over the defensive line on the last play before half-time may have been speculative but it bounced perfectly for James Morland, whose quick hands sent full-back Ben Dent flying to the posts to make the noisy home crowd even noisier.

Gamebreaker: Two tries in the first nine minutes of the second half took York’s commanding 22-0 lead up to 30-0, from which there was never going to be a way back for Rochdale.

Match rating: the Knights’ best all-round performance of the season and noisy backing from the fans (there really should be more of them watching this fare) made for a great day for York, a downer for the hitherto high-flying Hornets.