York Knights second best for majority of Halifax Panthers defeat

So said Mark Applegarth as York Knights capitulated after a bright start to fall to a 38-18 defeat at Halifax Panthers.

The Knights had raced out of the blocks to shellshock The Shay, with Ata Hingano breaking the deadlock from the tee before Connor Bailey crashed over to leave them scoring at a point a minute.

It took almost a quarter of an hour for Halifax to even get a touch of the ball, but a scintillating three-minute burst soon handed them an unlikely lead, with James Woodburn-Hall driving his way through some woeful defence in a stunning individual effort before quick hands sent Ben Crooks across on the powerplay.

Brad Ward’s diving effort saw the scoreline again tip in York’s favour but it was the hosts who had eked out a 22-14 advantage by the break, with Charlie Graham touching down into the left corner before Louis Jouffret glided underneath the posts in support of Connor Davies on the stroke of half time.

Crooks then played in Graham to score his second, but though Jacob Gannon was able to notch his first Knights try after Sam Cook’s break, both Joe Keyes and Jouffret exploited gaping holes in the visitors’ defence to add gloss to the scoreline inside the final 10 minutes.

Recommended reading:

• REPORT: Knights capitulate as Halifax secure enthralling comeback victory
• MATCH RECAP: Halifax Panthers 38-18 York Knights 

Applegarth though had no complaints about the result, believing his side were firmly second best for the majority of the enthralling encounter.

“I’m disappointed,” the Knights boss admitted.

“I thought we were completely in control in that first 10 to 15 minutes of the game, and then I thought we were second best after that.

“But you’ve got to give credit to Halifax, they weathered that storm and then they put their foot on the throat so to speak.

“We’re left licking our wounds because what we served up there for 60 minutes isn’t where we want to be as a team. Not a good 60 minutes for us.

“The first 20, I thought we were there, but it’s an 80-minute game and there’s a few tough lessons for us to learn.”

Applegarth has not shied away from his philosophy that defence wins championships, but it was at times all too easy for the Panthers.

Woodburn-Hall rode a tackle before bypassing a handful of defenders on the right to add the hosts’ first points to the scoreboard, the opposite edge proved to be just as easily breached by Crooks just three minutes later, and makeshift full-back Nikau Williams was too often left defensively isolated one-on-one.

And the Knights did themselves no favours either, with a tip tackle, a ball spill and several knock-on’s all contributing to the field position gained by their opponents.  

It was a real battle for the Knights as their defence was carved open at will. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography)

Asked what he felt had changed from the opening 20 minutes, Applegarth conceded: “I thought we let them into the game. I thought we were soft defensively in that first half if I’m honest.

“We thought it was going to be easier than it was and we gave them that leg-up back into the game.

“The defence in that first half, I thought we were second best at everything – whether that was our contacts, our process work. I thought their nines got out and controlled that middle and then our edges were under a bit of stress.

“There was a bit of disconnect there and we just looked all over with it. We need to sort our standards out with that because there’s a valuable lesson to be learned.

“Halifax didn’t touch the ball for about 10 minutes and then the first set that they did, we gave away a penalty and invited them straight back up into some good field position.

“I thought we were disappointing defensively, not just on the edges, but throughout. We need to have a good look at that and make sure we address it for next week.”