THERE was to be no fairytale ending to what has been a fairytale season.

Nevertheless, it was a pity York City Knights' first-ever campaign had to end on such a downer.

The performance was disappointing, make no bones about that, and the 50-30 scoreline reflected Barrow's superiority on the day.

It was also a shame that, in such an important game, an indifferent refereeing performance was so much to the fore.

Credit to the Knights, they made no excuses and admitted the Raiders were the better team, but Colin Morris' display with the whistle, in the first half particularly, gave the visitors the platform they hardly needed.

The reaction of some home fans was also disappointing. To have a pop at the team and leave in droves as they did long before the end was not the best way to thank the players who, up until this day, had given them as good a season as they could have wished for 12 months ago.

Unfortunately, no-one has the chance to make up for the disappointment as the nature of the play-offs means that one bad day and your season is over. This was a bad day - but by no means a bad season.

The match began as it was to go on for the Knights.

A penalty for a high tackle on Barrow's first play was followed immediately by another for offside and the visitors were 2-0 up through Adam Pate's boot after hardly touching the ball. In all, the winger was to score 26 points from two tries and nine goals.

York suffered a bigger blow three minutes later as their injury hoodoo struck yet again with stand-off Scott Rhodes, in his first game back since July, limping off with a recurrence of his knee problem. It seems overworked physio therapist Pat Howdle will be kept busy even in the close season.

Indeed, several other players carried knocks into the game and, by the end, it all looked as if it was one game too far for Paul Broadbent's injury-ravaged troops.

Referee Morris kept York on the back foot with a couple of harsh penalties and, when the Knights did break upfield, he ignored home pleas when Lee Jackson appeared to be blocked as he went for Danny Brough's grubber.

He also turned away when Brough was taken out late, while the touch judge then got in on the act when, for some reason, he ruled out a Stuart Godfrey try in the corner.

York tried to keep the pressure on midway through the half but the Raiders won the ball from their own drop-out, full-back Craig Bower raced upfield and Paul Jones got his first of two tries.

Four minutes later, Godfrey seemed to be tripped as he led the race to defend a chip, but Morris allowed Barrow to play on, with Andy Henderson touching down.

York got the break they needed as the impressive Carl Hughes, on for Rhodes, ran round a scrum to find a gap and cross, Brough converting.

The Knights defied some more questionable refereeing to go upfield and score again when, after running the sixth tackle, a lucky bounce fell to Trevor Krause, who jinked through.

Raiders hit back when Callaghan and Graeme Hallas combined to drop an up-and-under and, two forward passes later, try-scoring ace Jamie Marshall crossed.

The second half was barely 40 seconds old before Barrow scored again, a brilliant move ending with Pate crossing, and he got over again ten minutes later in what was a killer blow to the home team.

At 32-12, Morris gave York a chink of light when sin-binning Jamie Smith for hurling the ball at Brough's head during a minor melee, but the man advantage was reversed within two minutes when Morris sent off Hallas for fighting. Strangely, Barrow's Andy McClure, who was also fighting, stayed on.

Pate booted the penalty and McClure got a pat on the back.

York's slim hopes were boosted when Brough saw Callaghan fight his way over, but three minutes later it was curtains as Brough's chip was gathered on the full by Bower, who sprinted untouched for 80 metres to the line.

York's defence was breached too easily again for Dave Clark to cross in the corner, the try sparking a skirmish that spilled over onto the running track, and Henderson then set up Jones for another length-of-the-field try.

Everything was deflated, but the Knights still had it in them to score two late tries to make the scoreline more respectable. First, Mark Stewart's quick hands sent Stuart Godfrey in, and then Alex Godfrey crossed down the other wing.

However, the scores were met with nothing more than polite applause from the loyal home fans and it was the Barrow supporters who were singing to the next knockout stage.

Match stats:

Knights: A Godfrey 7, S Godfrey 6, Hallas 5, Stewart 6, Kama 8, Rhodes 6, Brough 7, Hayes 7, Jackson 6, Helme 6, Ramsden 7, Callaghan 7, Krause 7. Subs (all used): Hughes 7, Briggs 6, Mears 6, Forsyth 6.

Tries: Hughes 26; Krause 34; Callaghan 63; S Godfrey 79; A Godfrey 80.

Conversions: Brough 26, 34, 63, 79, 80.

Penalties: None.

Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: Hallas 56.

Barrow: Bower, Marshall, Smith, P Jones, Pate, Manihera, Henderson, Liku, Clark, King, McClure, Lupton, Atkinson.

Subs (all used): Archer, Luxon, W Jones, Dancer.

Tries: P Jones 20, 76; Henderson 24; Mar-shall 37; Pate 41, 51; Bower 66; Clark 71.

Conversions: Pate 20, 24, 37, 41, 51, 71, 76.

Penalties: Pate 2, 56

Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: Smith 54.

Sent off: None.

Man of the match: Rob Kama - provided the bulk of the Knights' bright moments, the Fijian's flair taking him on several eye-catching runs.

HT: 12-20

Ref: Colin Morris (Huddersfield)

Penalty count: 3-6

Attendance: 1,299

Updated: 12:22 Monday, September 15, 2003