HOW many of the hundreds of parents at Huntington Stadium yesterday have had 'the bogeyman' conversation with their kids?
You know, the one about it not existing and there's no such thing as monsters.
You have to wonder how many were re-examining their viewpoint at half-time yesterday as Hunslet Hawks - the bogey thorn in the Knights side over the last couple of seasons - looked on course for another upset.
A dismal first half full of spoiling tactics helped by a catalogue of handling errors from the blue and whites saw Hunslet race 14-0 clear and then 16-6 up at the interval.
But then that modicum of underlying belief that knows there's no such thing as bogeymen reared up and, two tries and some gritty defending later, the Knights were back on level terms.
And then Chris Levy, the picture of composure - although no oil-painting with his head bandaged up - sailed the all-important drop-goal between the sticks.
The stadium - packed with 3,224 fans - erupted.
But the getting there was no fairytale. And fans will be hoping the recent trend of scrappy football appeased by late victories as seen at Gateshead last week isn't made into a trilogy when Blackpool Panthers visit in two weeks' time.
A knock-on right from the kick-off was not the start the Knights wanted.
Peter Fox, Jim Elston and Neil Law combined for the best early start but staunch defending prevented Law from grounding the ball and David Bates missed his chance moments later after play was pulled back for a high tackle on Law.
Hawks fullback George Raylor saw his sprint downfield to get on the scoresheet ruled out for offside. But the Knights weren't let off so lightly six minutes later when livewire Jamain Wray, playing at hooker despite being at loose forward last time out, burst through two tackles and offloaded to Raylor leaving a trail of flat-out Knights behind him.
A penalty for laying on made it 8-0 shortly after and then Wray squirmed through and stretched his arm over the line to make it 14-0 with the conversion on 22 minutes.
You can criticise the Hawks all you want for the way they slow down the play-the-ball with lying on and holding in a butter-wouldn't-melt manner that clearly has most officials fooled. But at the end of the day it works and it worked again against the Knights as they controlled the game and had their finger constantly on frustration.
It was Dan Potter's football skills that again came into play to shake things up three minutes into the second half.
He neatly trapped an attempted grubber by Hawks sub Andy Baston inside the Knights ten yard line, picked it up and then unleashed Rhodes for a dramatic and much-needed 60-yard try.
Knights showed they had the muscle in defence too. Lee Jackson denied Gareth Naylor a nailed-on try on the last tackle and then Adam Sullivan halted Wray's route to an almost-certain four-pointer with Chris Redfearn also being stopped in his tracks.
With 20 minutes remaining, Fox burst down the right and the play switched left. Rhodes's way was blocked, but quick hands found Matt Blaymire on the overlap to level the scores in the corner.
Dyson missed with a 48-yard penalty before both teams turned their attention to the one-pointer.
Hawks went first but found their effort smothered under immense pressure and then captain Levy, back on the field with four stitches in his face having clashed heads with James Ward early on, made time stand still with his drop-kick.
A sweet ending maybe, but that's two lucky escapes for the Knights in as many weeks. Hopefully, the fans will be able to sleep easier next time.
Knights: Blaymire 7, Lingard 7, Potter 6, Law 7, Fox 7, Levy 7, P Thorman 7, Sullivan 7, Elston 7, Bates 6, Callaghan 7, Kirke 6, Paterson 6. Subs (all used): Rhodes 7, Jackson 7, Ward 6, Sozi 6.
Tries: Lingard 30; Rhodes 43; Blaymire 62.
Conversions: P Thorman 30, 43.
Penalties: None.
Drop goals: Levy 78.
Sin-binned: None.
Sent off: None.
Hunslet: Raylor, Watson, A Gibbons, Cummins, Dyson, D Gibbons, Moxon, Staveley, Wray, Coyll, Freeman, Shickell, Redfearn. Subs (all used): Baston, Cook, Williamson, Naylor.
Tries: Raylor 14; Wray 22.
Conversions: Dyson 9, 22. Penalties: Dyson 17, 37.
Drop goals: None.
Sin-binned: None.
Sent off: None.
Man of the match: Matt Blaymire - another solid performance at full back with excellent support play rewarded with the equalising try.
Referee: Steve Nicholson (Whitehaven).
Rating: Seemed to ignore the Hawks' spoiling tactics to York's detriment. Was better at spotting high tackles though.
Penalty count: 8-8.
HT: 6-16.
Gamebreaker: Dan Potter's quick reactions to block a chip forward and send Scott Rhodes racing downfield minutes after half time.
Attendance: 3,224.
Weather watch: Summer sun regressed to cool spring showers with a biting wind.
Match rating: Edge of the seat stuff, but not necessarily in a good way.
Updated: 11:01 Monday, May 23, 2005
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