LET the good times roll. York City Knights yesterday broke their Arriva Trains Cup duck with a superb 32-12 win at Don Valley Stadium, and the mixture of delight and relief was almost tangible.
Not only was it the Knights' first-ever victory over fellow professionals, it was also York RL's first away win against pro' opposition since York Wasps' 33-10 Northern Ford Premiership defeat of Batley on May 29, 2000.
The Knights are still unlikely to go further in this year's Arriva Trains Cup, but this result and performance bodes well for the National League season, which kicks-off in just under six weeks.
Sheffield were the first team from their own Division Two that York had played and the Eagles went into the game on a high after bouncing back from their Challenge Cup drubbing by Hull to beat First Division Batley in midweek.
The Knights, on the other hand, were desperate for their first victory and that desperation could have transposed itself into added pressure. But, boy, did they come up with the goods.
The players had labelled the previous home match against Dewsbury as a must-win game and they played much of that as though the weight of the world was on their shoulders. If they went into yesterday's match in a similar frame of mind, it had a different effect, as they cut down the errors, defended with extra vigour and showed enough in attack to win the game by 20 clear points.
For Knights player-coach Paul Broadbent - who is still regarded as a hero by Eagles fans and staff - it was a triumphant return, and he played a full part on the pitch. But, although it is a clich, it is fair to say the team effort won the day.
The Knights began the game the better but Sheffield, just like they had done when beating Batley, started to come back into it after 15 minutes or so, with their forwards trying to ground down the opposition. But rather than fold, the Knights showed a Sheffield-like steel to counter their hosts.
They scored four fine tries to Sheffield's two, while fit-again Graeme Hallas kept taking the game further away with some top drawer goal-kicking.
York led two penalties to one by the time of their first try on 18 minutes. Mark Cain made the initial burst and Trevor Krause and Broadbent took the ball closer to the whitewash, where Lee Jackson's grubber somehow bobbled clear for Mick Ramsden to score just inside the end line.
Sheffield - benefiting from a curious penalty decision awarded against Chris Beever, who had seemingly pressured opposite winger Paul Wells into touch - hit back as Pat Rich's clever pass out the back saw winger Wells spin into the corner.
But then came York's purple patch. Wells failed to deal with Cain's kick and ex-Sheffield star Darren Callaghan, on his first return to Don Valley, took hold and reached over in the right corner.
Sheffield were offside at the restart for Hallas to boot his second half-way line penalty and, two minutes later, substitute Gareth Lloyd, in his first contribution, made a great break from Jackson's pass and got the ball out to Hallas, who in turn gave the scoring pass to Molloy in the left corner.
If York's defence had been good in the first half, it was superb early in the second.
Sheffield, thanks to drop-outs and penalty decisions, effectively had six consecutive sets, almost all of which were in the York ten-metre zone. But they failed to breach a resolute back line as Beever somehow defended a two-on-one, while the entire line stood up strong to constant pressure.
That pressure finally told on 56 minutes as Gavin Brown's pass saw Andy Raleigh storm over despite the gallant attempts of Smith and Robinson, and at 22-12 it was perhaps game on.
But York then took charge. Hallas kicked the visitors further ahead after an infringement on Krause, and on 73 minutes a try of Super League class saw Broadbent give a great pass to Smith - playing for the first time this season at full-back - who broke the tackle as he collected the ball and darted over.
The game was now up and late Knights pressure was rewarded as Hallas had the final word with his boot.
The healthy York contingent crowded around the players' tunnel to cheer the lads off the field, and although one victory does not a season make, the players, staff and fans all left Don Valley bubbling with renewed excitement.
Indeed, while a defeat could have reduced confidence in the camp to a new low ahead of the League season, this victory - over a side who are more than likely going to be up there in Division Two - could in effect do the opposite.
Average crowds for a single round of matches in Super League broke the 10,000 barrier for the first time since the 1996 inception of the league as a total of 61,982 saw this weekend's six games.
Bradford led the way as 20,283 saw the Bulls return to Odsal and beat Wakefield 22-10, while 12,901 went to Hull's Kingston Commu-nications Stadium, though most went home shocked after visitors London Broncos won 10-4.
Leeds and Castleford share top spot in the table with St Helens, the trio being the only clubs to have won both games so far. Leeds triumphed 32-22 at Warrington, while Cas won 20-10 at Halifax.
Eagles: Poynter, Breakingbury, Kite, Rich, Wells, Reilly, Brown, Howisson, Adams, Bruce, Goddard, Tillyer, Flynn.
Subs (all used): Bettinson, Angus, Raleigh, Brown.
Tries: Wells 21, Raleigh 56.
Conversions: Brown 56.
Penalties: Brown 12.
DG: None
Knights: Beever 8, Smith 9, Hallas 8, Callaghan 8, Molloy 7, Firth 7, Krause 7, Broadbent 8, Jackson 8, Hayes 8, Ramsden 8, Fletcher 8, Cain 8.
Subs used: Robin-son 7, Lloyd 7, Bolus 8. Sub not used: Embleton.
Tries: Ramsden 18, Callaghan 30, Molloy 34, Smith 73.
Conversions: Hallas 18, 30, 73.
Penalties: Hallas 6, 10, 32, 70, 80.
DG: None.
Man of the match: Chris Smith - almost everyone was in the reckoning but Smith gets the nod for a superb display defensively and in taking the ball forward from full-back.
Referee: Ashley Klein
Penalty count: 10-10
HT: 6-22
Attendance: 730
Updated: 10:11 Monday, March 10, 2003
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