York City Knights v Coventry Bears – player ratings & talking points after second-half try-fest
York City Knights 64 Coventry Bears 12
Knights: Robson 8, Lancaster 7, Haynes 8, Rawsthorne 8, Foggin-Johnston 8, Harris 9, Presley 8, Dixon 8, Jubb 8, Siddons 8, Batchelor 9, E Smith 9, Spears 8. Subs (all used): Carter 9, Hey 7, B Tyson-Wilson 8, Porter 8.
Tries: Harris 2; Haynes 5, 71; Lancaster 14; E Smith 42; Porter 45; Batchelor 50, 68; Rawsthorne 55; Carter 58; Presley 63; Hey 76.
Conversions: Harris 2; Rawsthorne 45, 55, 58, 63, 68, 71, 76.
Penalties: none.
Sent off: none.
Sin-binned: none.
Coventry: Chapman, Freeman, Brierley, Medforth, Russell, Gaylor, Delaney, Johnson, Hughes, Hughes, Beddows, Sherratt, Reid. Subs (all used): Prior, J Morrison, Geurtjens, Gover.
Tries: Freeman 25; Brierley 31.
Conversions: Delaney 25, 31.
Penalties: none.
Sent off: none.
Sin-binned: none.
Man of the match: the two starting second-rows looked top-drawer, and Harry Carter had a cracking cameo after his last-minute (literally) call-up into the 17, but stand-off Liam Harris was again our star man, at times tearing Coventry apart. But don’t anyone tell his parent club Hull KR otherwise they might want him back.
Referee: Callum Straw (Wakefield) – good.
Penalty count: 6-8
Half-time: 14-12
Weather: warm and pleasant but a bit breezy.
Attendance: 902 (exactly double the figure for the corresponding fixture last year).
Moment of the match: pretty much the entire second half, with a try pretty much every four-and-a-half minutes.
Gaffe of the match: the six consecutive penalties and a drop in intensity which allowed Coventry a way back into the game in the second quarter.
Gamebreaker: the three tries in 10 minutes after half-time took the Knights clear again and erased concerns after their early first-half lead had almost eroded away.
Match rating: the first half was a game of two halves, York on top in the first and Coventry in the second; the second half was simply scintillating one-way stuff from James Ford’s rampant Knights.
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