Match report: Hunslet Hawks 28, York City Knights 28

The end result of all that, however, was a 28-28 share-all, the Knights having to settle for two points after seeing former favourite Danny Ratcliffe kick an equalising penalty for the Hawks after the final hooter.

For some of the travelling faithful, it was points gained after a nightmare seven minutes around the half-hour mark had seen York trail 20-4 at the interval, a gap which extended to 26-4 after a solo try from another former Knight, Danny Grimshaw.

For others – and boss Dave Woods – it was a point lost, and not just because they ruined their marvellous comeback by offering the hosts an equaliser at the death, barely a minute after taking a thrilling lead.

For Woods, the spoils were lost in a poor first half, especially in those seven minutes, when Hunslet, aided by a fine cameo off the bench from unpredictable forward Neil Lowe, displayed a creativity the Knights did not match until their clearly superior fitness helped to get them a second-half roll-on.

Nonetheless, they should still have won.

That they didn’t was down to controversial refereeing from rookie official George Stokes – but also to the Knights’ inability to see the game out.

Stokes first penalised Ben Jones for walking off the mark having deemed a tackle to be completed. Woods argued the referee did not call ‘held’ so Jones was in his right not to play the ball.

Either way, it should have been a simple last set for the Knights to run the clock down.

As it was, they turned over possession inside their own half and then, as Hunslet sought a winner, Stokes penalised them again, this time for holding down, a call which was less controversial and brought Ratcliffe his goal.

Stokes’ performance throughout was contentious, with Hunslet bemoaning as many decisions as York. However, it was noteworthy that one of the biggest roars of the day came from the travelling fans when Stokes finally penalised the hosts for being offside.

Ratcliffe, Grimshaw and Lowe were among ten ex-Knights in the Hunslet 17, nine of whom followed player-boss Paul March in making the switch to south Leeds after his sacking by York in 2009.

There would have been one more in Dave Clayton but he pulled out in the warm-up. His replacement in the threequarters, Stuart Kain, opened the scoring, from Grimshaw’s cut-out pass.

York hit back quickly, following two penalties against another ex-Knight, Rob Kelly.

Prop Nathan Massey, one of the three Castleford lads back in Woods’ line-up, crashed over from short-range, after another, Jordan Thompson, had made ground. Centre Thompson was otherwise not in the game enough.

The return of the Cas trio was expected, though there were a few surprises in York’s 17, including the absence of Ian Bell and the returns from injury of Tom Bush at full-back and Nathan Freer on the bench.

It was thought both, especially prop Freer, who hasn’t played since pre-season, would get a run-out in the reserves first.

Bush probably could have done with one, judging by two glaring errors, one of which cost his side a try.

Also, prop Ben Jones started in the second row, with John Davies, the third Cas lad, switching to loose-forward. Davies, with his pacey hit-ups, again stood out.

Freer came on after 25 minutes and immediately had a chance but could not hold onto Thorman’s fierce short ball when he would have been through.

Then came Hunslet’s purple patch, with tries by Elliot Kear, brushing through a poor tackle by Jonny Presley, Ratcliffe, who streaked clear after another ex-Knight, Joe McLocklan, had made the break, and Richie Barnett, after Bush had dropped the ball following a scrum in front of his own posts.

March himself missed a gilt-edged chance after the interval, from a Tommy Haughey offload, but it did get worse for the Knights with Grimshaw’s effort, Ratcliffe adding his third conversion.

But soon the fightback began.

Steve Lewis’s excellent angle gave him an easy finish from a Jack Lee pass and, after Hunslet were finally done for offside, Dave Sutton capped another forceful display on the wing – marred by late injury – by forcing his way over.

Bush fumbled the restart but Hunslet made nothing of that territory and York scored again after Alex Benson, who had looked lost when in possession on the last tackle, created something from nothing as he passed to the left when Danny Wilson fed Matt Garside to crash over.

Chris Thorman’s superb goal from the touchline put York four points behind with 11 minutes left.

With two to go, Presley, after an inconsistent display, finally got both the option and execution right with a grubber kick which popped up for Garside to score again, Thorman’s fourth conversion putting the Knights ahead.

Benson also fielded Hunslet’s short restart and it seemed the points were in the bag.

Only they weren’t.

Match facts

Hunslet: Ratcliffe, Barnett, Clayton, Kear, Pryce, Grimshaw, P March, Sullivan, Haigh, Cakacaka, Kelly, Haughey, D March.

Subs (all used): Houston, Blakeway, Lowe, McLocklan.

Tries: Kain 9; Kear 28; Ratcliffe 30; Barnett 35; Grimshaw 52.

Conversions: Ratcliffe 28, 30, 52.

Penalties: Ratcliffe 80.

Knights: Bush 5, Sutton 7, Straugheir 6, Thompson 6, Wilson 7, Thorman 7, Presley 6, Massey 7, Lee 7, Benson 7, Clarke 6, Jones 7, Davies 8.

Subs (all used): Freer 6, Barron 6, Garside 7, Lewis 7.

Tries: Massey 15; Lewis 57; Sutton 62; Garside 69, 78.

Conversions: Thorman 57, 62, 69, 78.

Penalties: None.

Man of the match: John Davies – another display full of pace and punch, this time from the back of the pack.

Referee: George Stokes (St Helens) – recently promoted to this level, and he was at times out of his depth.

Penalty count: 10-10.

Attendance: 606.

Half-time: 20-4.

Weather: bright and sunny.

Moment of the match: Jonny Presley’s kicking game and decision-making at half-back had not always been spot-on, but it sure was with two minutes to go when his grubber bounced up perfectly for Matt Garside to zoom in and get his second – and what should have been the match-winning – try.

Gaffe of the match: Tom Bush fumbled the ball following a scrum ten yards from his own line, and this gave Hunslet the field position from which to score a third try in seven critical first-half minutes.

Gamebreaker: Danny Ratcliffe’s penalty goal after the final hooter had sounded.

Match rating: points gained for the Knights fans whose cups are half full; a point lost for those with cups half empty.