Halifax 34, Knights 24

Few would have expected the opening two games, against full-timers Widnes (an encouraging effort) and Hull KR (less encouraging), to glean anything more than the zero points returned.

But fellow part-timers Fax were a different, less far-out, proposition and many pundits reckoned yesterday's showing at the Shay would be a better gauge of how the Knights currently stood in relation to their 2006 aspirations. Problem is, it probably wasn't.

This might sound paradoxical, but York, in their 34-24 loss, made too many basic errors, some of them straight out of a Beano annual, for anyone to have a true idea of how good they really are compared to their part-time peers.

A decent late surge gave them a glimpse of hope but they had given themselves too much to recoup as several balls were dropped, two Halifax restarts were messed up, a Phil Hasty drop-out did not go the full ten metres, five consecutive sets at the back end of the first half failed to go beyond three tackles, and twice Peter Fox and Lee Lingard went for the same high ball and dropped it, gifting Fax a try each time.

You don't need a coaching badge to figure out what went wrong, but such individual mistakes - hopefully one-off mistakes - make it harder to decipher what needs fixing on a more technical front should a game go beyond basic blunders.

Of course, if these mistakes prove not to be one-off, then it's easy to work out how relatively good York are, but the error count will surely fall.

Cook made a few changes to the side beaten by Hull KR on Friday, all in the pack and mainly due to injury, with ten players on the treatment table, which today could be 12 due to new hip problems suffered by centres Neil Law and Rob Spicer. Law's departure brought a second half debut as substitute to trialist Dean Ripley, who did okay.

The Knights began too one-paced in attack but, after Halifax went ahead in a lively opening as Andy Kirk beat three tackles to cross, they had half a chance in the left corner only for Dave Buckley's application to not match his vision as his grubber kick went dead.

Then when the hard-working Aussie was put charging through by Paul Thorman's superb pass, he threw a ball which was never on.

Such lack of patience played a part in some of York's errors throughout the game.

Still, the Knights were getting a grip on proceedings and didn't waste the next chance as Jim Elston put James Ward into a huge gap, Thorman goaling.

Ward, however, was as guilty of fumbling as anyone - though it was others' mistakes that brought Fax back into it.

Joel Penny took advantage of slack marking to race 60 yards home, Dean Lawford goaling.

Then, after a fumble by David Bates, home winger James Haley collected a suspiciously forward pass to make it 14-6 at half-time.

It got worse four minutes after the resumption as Lingard seemingly did not call for a high ball which Fox stood underneath and then dropped it, with Fax's Anthony Blackwood scoring from the extra set.

A quick play-the-ball saw Jim Elston dart over, Thorman's conversion cutting the gap to one score, but Buckley had a foot in touch when catching the restart, then landed a high blow and Lawford booted Fax eight points up again.

Then, after Hasty dropped a simple pass 15 yards from his own line, Simeon Hoyle extended the home lead with a converted try.

Lingard and Fox soon clashed again for Byron Smith to get a converted try, which signalled some confident rugby from Fax while the Knights were still trying to get over their indiscretions.

Elston brought late away cheer with a superb solo try and another fine scoot from dummy-half which brought a try for the supporting Fox on the run.

Both were goaled by Hasty, but a 78th-minute Lawford penalty killed the game.

Halifax: Attwood, Haley, Kirk, Blackwood, Gibson, Lawford, Penny, Hobson, Hoyle, Boults, Holdstock, Harland, Ball. Subs (all used): Heckenberg, Simpson, Hayes, Smith.

Tries: Kirk 10; Penny 32; Haley 38; Blackwood 44; Hoyle 54; B Smith 59.

Conversions: Lawford 32, 54, 59.

Penalties: Lawford 54, 78.

Drop-goals: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

Knights : Lingard 5, Fox 6, Spicer 7, Law 6, Farrell 6, Thorman 6, Hasty 6, O'Loughlin 6, Elston 8, Bates 5, Buckley 7, Golden 6, Paterson 6. Subs (all used): Ripley 6, Liddell 7, Smith 6, Ward 5.

Tries: Ward 24; Elston 46, 74; Fox 77. Conversions: Thorman 24, 46; Hasty 74, 77.

Penalties: None.

Drop-goals: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

Man of the match: Jim Elston

- busy at dummy-half and in defence, and would have been a man of the match contender even if he hadn't scored two solo tries and set up the Knights' other two.

HT: 14-6.

Referee: Peter Taberner (Wigan). Rating: Picky but consistently so.

Penalty count: 8-7.

Attendance: 1,800.

Gamebreaker: The second joint-blunder from Lee Lingard and Peter Fox where they clashed going for the same ball, which led to a home try for Bryon Smith to make it 32-12 on the hour.

Moment of the match: Jim Elston's superb solo try where he went from dummy-half and beat three men with pace and swerves, which gave York a glimmer of hope.

Weather watch: Pleasant.

Match rating: Some bright moments but generally frustrating as York errors helped Halifax build a lead and confidence.

Updated: 10:37 Tuesday, April 18, 2006