York Knights produce thrilling comeback to beat Swinton Lions 30-22

Andrew Henderson’s side were dead and buried for 65 minutes, but Jordan Gibson’s red card proved the turning point as they ran in five tries in 11 minutes to seal the unlikeliest of victories in Manchester.

Swinton held a commanding 22-point lead at the break, fashioned from an Andy Badrock double alongside tries from Jake Spedding and Jake Burns, with the Knights a shell of the side that had defeated Halifax Panthers seven days ago.

But Gibson’s dismissal for a high tackle that knocked out Will Dagger opened the door for York to take the initiative, with interchange hooker Josh Daley spearheading the most dramatic of comebacks that saw Jesse Dee, Joe Brown and Franklin Pele also find the whitewash on an afternoon likely to live long in the memory.

MATCH RECAP: Swinton Lions 22-30 York Knights

Having secured a second win of the Betfred Championship season against the Panthers last weekend, Henderson made two changes to his 17 in the Knights’ search for back-to-back league wins for the first time this year.

Hull FC loanee Charlie Severs was reinstated into the second row in place of the injured Tom Lineham, seeing Connor Bailey switch into the centres, whilst Dagger returned to the bench from a one-match suspension.

Swinton themselves fielded a noticeably stronger line-up than had been thrashed 40-0 by the Knights on their home turf last season, with Dec Patton, Dan Abram and Dan Spencer-Tonks causing all sorts of trouble.

York had flown out of the blocks against Halifax last week, but it was as though normal service had resumed in the Manchester sunshine as they again found themselves with an early deficit.

Having won a penalty for holding, Swinton restarted from the 30-metre line before Patton played the ball short to Badrock, who, with Ukuma Ta’ai missing his tackle, crashed over into the left corner.

Abram was on target from the tee and was again in similar fashion nine minutes later as the Knights’ right edge defence was carved open for a second time.

There was a sense of deja-vu as York’s discipline again proved costly, an offside call presenting Swinton with the field position to send Badrock over in a carbon copy of his first.

Any inkling that the Lions’ pursuit of points would wain was quickly dispelled, with Gibson’s looping cut-out pass to the right wing finding St Helens loanee Tee Ritson, who put the ball back inside for Spedding to touch down into the right corner on the quarter-hour.

Abram was wide with his conversion, but Swinton were still scoring at a point per minute.

The Knights were firmly second-best in a first half that belonged to Swinton. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography)

The Knights did threaten a near-immediate response after Ata Hingano’s chipped kick was flicked into the arms of Dee, but referee Matty Lynn ruled the ball had gone forwards.

Ta’ai was the next to come close for Henderson’s side before Davy Litten was caught high, leaving Hull FC loanee with blood pouring from his face.

That saw Dagger introduced from the bench in his place, but although his high hanging kick caused a raft of problems for Abram, he was sent to the sin-bin for slowing down the play-the-ball shortly before the half-hour, leaving the Knights to play out almost the remainder of the half with 12 men.

Rhys Williams was denied by a superb tackle from Taylor Pemberton, but it wasn’t long before Swinton capitalised on their man advantage, with the Knights’ right-edge defence left in no man’s land as Burns collected an offload before racing beneath the posts after a rapid break.

Abram again slotted over the extras, with Swinton’s 22-0 half-time lead no less than they had deserved.

Needing a response, the Knights looked to come out of the blocks well after the break as Litten was caught high by Spedding, but their attack broke down after a miscommunication between Dagger and Bailey early in the set.

Litten was withdrawn for a second time three minutes into the half, and would play no further part, as Dagger moved from the halves to full-back, and Pemberton was re-introduced from the bench.

The Knights began to expose a few cracks in Swinton’s defence, with Brown fingertips away from reeling in Hingano’s chip to the corner before AJ Towse was bundled into touch after collecting Jimmy Keinhorst’s short pass.

Swinton’s Jordan Case left the field for a HIA after a heavy tackle from Dee before the Knights were penalised for a forward pass from the play-the-ball on the hour in a schoolboy error that had summed up their afternoon.

Hingano wasted another glorious opportunity for the Knights with a pass to Dee that was never really on, but the travelling fans that had made an early exit were left ruing that decision as their side produced the almightiest of comebacks to turn the game on its head.

Gibson’s high tackle on Dagger in the 65th minute was the catalyst for a stunning response from Henderson’s side, the half-back given his marching orders after an apparent shoulder charge that left the rapidly-charging full-back flat out on the floor.

Jesse Dee kickstarted the Knights' comeback. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography)

Once play resumed after a stoppage, Spedding gave away a penalty for halting the play-the-ball inside his 10-metre line, with the Knights needing no second invitation as Dee danced his way around the Swinton defence before touching down beneath the posts.

Pemberton wasted no time in slotting over the extras and did not again a mere three minutes later after Daley backed himself from the play-the-ball to crash over from close range after Ta’ai had been stopped just short.

With a nervous atmosphere building, the Knights cut the gap to four with six minutes left to play, Daley again powering over after Brown’s break had brought them upfield.

Pemberton then had a mountain of pressure on his shoulders after Jordan Thompson set Brown away to race into the left corner but kept his composure to fire the Knights in front.

Joe Brown combined with Jordan Thompson for a long-range effort. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography)

The former St Helens youngster was again the hero after dragging Williams into touch on the near side as the Lions looked to hit back, but it was instead the Knights who made sure of the points inside the final minute.

Pele broke through the Swinton defence before being brought down on the 30-metre line, but three plays later, was in the right place to touch down the loose ball next to the posts after some scramble defence.

Pemberton then put the icing on the cake for the Knights from the tee as they completed a memorable comeback.

SWINTON LIONS: Abram, Ritson, Spedding, Hatton, Williams, Patton, Gibson, Green, Eaves, Spencer-Tonks, Badrock, Rodden, Hall.

INTERCHANGES: Burns, Case, Cooper, Hammond.

TRIES: Badrock (3, 12), Spedding (15), Burns (35)

GOALS: Abram 3/4

RED CARD: Gibson (65)

YORK KNIGHTS: Litten, Brown, Bailey, Keinhorst, Towse, Hingano, Pemberton, Ta’ai, Jubb, Santi, Dee, Severs, Thompson.

INTERCHANGES: Dagger, Fitzsimmons, Daley, Pele

TRIES: Dee (68), Daley (71, 74), Brown (77), Pele (79)

GOALS: Pemberton 5/5

SIN-BIN: Dagger (29)

POINTS SEQUENCE: 4-0, 6-0, 10-0, 12-0, 16-0, 20-0, 22-0, 22-4, 22-6, 22-10, 22-12, 22-16, 22-18, 22-22, 22-24, 22-28, 22-30.

HALF TIME: 22-0               

YORK’S STAR MAN: Josh Daley. The interchange hooker really tried to inject something into the Knights, and added another two tries to his personal tally.

ATTENDANCE: 844

REFEREE: Matty Lynn