Knights discard travel sickness

The Knights face the long trek to Workington today for tomorrow's National League Two match and then in the following weeks travel to Hunslet and Sheffield before finally playing another game at their Huntington Stadium headquarters on August 1.

Taking into consideration last weekend's Arriva Trains Cup semi-final at Hull KR, and the blank weekend for the competition's final, it all means the Knights will not have had a home game for six weeks.

As for whether the month on the road could affect their promotion push, Knights coach Richard Agar said: "Ask me in a month - but I don't think we've had any concern about our away form up to date.

"We're staying away this weekend which we feel always helps, even more than a normal away game, and the other ones are at Hunslet and Sheffield, which are not too far."

The July run of away games is partly due to the Hunslet v Knights duels being swapped around, a switch which saw York open the league campaign with three consecutive home games. Ironically, that game against Hunslet at Huntington Stadium remains York's only defeat in the league.

Agar added: "Our away form has been no cause for concern and if we want to do well we've got to keep our form home and away. Mentally we're pretty strong so we'll be okay."

THE Knights Supporters' Club coaches to tomorrow's game at Workington Town are now fully booked.

Pick-up points and times are: Haxby (Holly Tree Lane) 9.45am, Huntington Stadium (rear) 10am, New Lane (opposite Anthea Drive) 10.05, Dodsworth Avenue (opposite shops) 10.10, Clarence Street (opposite vets) 10.15, Exhibition Square (outside theatre) 10.20, Blossom Street (opposite Odeon) 10.25.

Tickets for the Supporters' Club fans' forum on Thursday, July 22, will be on sale at the Knights' next two away games, at Workington tomorrow and Hunslet seven days later.

Admission to the event, which is in the Huntington Stadium bar, starting at 7.30pm, is by ticket only. To buy a ticket, priced £2, seek out a Supporters' Club committee member.

HERE'S an interesting fact to behold.

There is a certain Knights player who regularly gets his legs waxed. Yes, it's true, but to save his blushes, he shall remain anonymous.

Kama was Rob-bed

Rob Kama didn't have much to shout about following the Fastest Man in RL competition - but he still had a smile on his face.

The 27-year-old winger (pictured above) was the Knights' representative in the sell-out charity event in Wigan but failed to reach the final after a false start fiasco in the heats.

"I was always taught to test the gun so I broke start on purpose the first time to see how long the delay was," he said. "By the second time, I knew how long it would be so I shot off.

"I was out in front and I could only see the two guys to my right and it suddenly dawned on me that either I was running really quickly or something was wrong.

"I looked back after crossing the line and saw the others hadn't set off. We were all sent back to the start and the two Super League guys I had ran to the end with were not happy, especially when they said we couldn't have a couple of minutes to recover as they were running out of time.

"I knew I couldn't run that quick again so I eased up a bit and finished last. Because it was all for charity, I wasn't too gutted, although when you're representing York it is a big deal."

The winner and runner-up in Kama's heat were Chorley's Lee Paterson and Bradford's David Halley, while the other heat winners were Castleford's Rob Worrincy, Leeds' Dave Doherty, a late replacement for Mark Calderwood, and St Helens' Darren Albert. Also in the eight-man final were Whitehaven's Craig Calvert, London Skolars' Ade Adebisi, and London Broncos' Lee Greenwood.

Aussie Albert pocketed the £2,000 first prize after winning the final in 11.365 seconds, from Calvert (11.593) and Doherty (11.667). Wigan's Brett Dallas was a late withdrawal.

Kama added: "One of the nicest compliments I had was from a little boy. He looked up at me and asked where I came from. I told him York and he said, 'You guys are doing really well. Don't worry, next year you will win,' and that made my day."

The Powergen-sponsored event raised more than £2,500 for Sport Relief.

Austin motors in for monthly award

WING wonder Austin Buchanan completed a magical monthly double after being voted Knights' Player of the Month by Evening Press readers.

The youngster has given a string of superb performances since joining from Leeds' Academy in May and during the month of June notched five tries in four games as the Knights stormed to the top of the table.

His overall performances aside from his tries saw him awarded the LHF Healthplan National League Two Player of the Month gong by Rugby League World magazine.

And now Knights fans have backed that decision by voting him Player of the Month in the Evening Press-sponsored poll, with the pace ace picking up his accolade prior to heading off to Cumbria for tomorrow's game at Workington.

To have your say in who is awarded Player of the Month, vote for your man of the match after each game and whoever gets the most nominations during the month gets the gong.

In addition, everyone who sends in a vote gets the chance to win VIP tickets to a home game and present the winning player with his award.

The name drawn out of the hat this month was Barry Thorn of York.

As the Knights don't have another home match for a month, Buchanan's award, plus the July award, will be presented pitch-side to the players at the next home game, which is against Barrow Raiders on August 1.

To vote, send your nomination via email to peter.martini@ycp.co.uk or on a postcard to Peter Martini, Sports-desk, Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN. Leave your name, address and daytime contact number.

YOU may notice on the photograph above that Chris Langley (back, far left) and Danny Brough (fourth from left) are sporting comedy moustaches.

Here's Langley explanation: "The photographer said he wanted the players to be on the picture. I said, 'What do you want us for? Austin's the superstar,' but the guy said he still wanted us out there, so me and Broughy saw it as an opportunity for a bit of fun.

"We just wanted to see if we could get away with it - and it looks like we did. Or maybe we didn't."

Our photographer, Mike Tipping, was not fooled. He said: "When I saw the picture I thought about digitally enhancing the photo so all the players had handlebar moustaches, but in today's litigious society I feared I might not get away with it."

AUSTIN Buchanan has also jumped up the Evening Press/Collier Plant Hire player-of-the-year standings after his man of the match performance in the semi-final defeat at Hull KR last week.

This accolade brought him three player-of-the-year points, while he also collected the bonus point after topping the fans' vote.

Leader Lee Jackson upped the gap at the top as he collected two points for being judged the Knights' second best player on the day, while Buchanan's fellow winger, Scott Walker, picked up the remainder for a fine display.

Latest standings: Jackson 22pts, Rhodes 18, Brough 16, Ball 16, Friend 16, Callaghan 13, Langley 13, Graham 7, Elston 7, Cain 6, Forsyth 6, Buchanan 6, Godfrey 5, Stewart 5, Sozi 4, Briggs 2, J Smith 2, Wood 2, Walker 2, Hayes 1, Andrews 1.

Updated: 10:23 Saturday, July 03, 2004