York Knights defy odds in thrilling 34-24 comeback win at Featherstone

Mark Applegarth’s side got off to an ominous start in the West Yorkshire sunshine, with early tries from Brad Day and Caleb Aekins seeing Featherstone score at more than a point a minute.

Paul Turner extended the hosts’ lead to 14 points before the Knights finally kicked into gear, and it was relatively one-way traffic for the remainder of the half after interchange Jack Teanby had finally brought them onto the scoreboard 13 minutes before the break.

A penalty goal extended Featherstone’s lead to 18-6 by half-time, but it was York who crucially scored first after the interval after a period of sustained pressure.

Josh Daley and Ukuma Ta’ai fired the Knights in front with 20 minutes remaining, but though Turner levelled the scores, Ata Hingano crucially restored York’s lead before captain Liam Harris added the icing to a memorable cake inside the final minute.

Victory moves the Knights up to seventh in the Betfred Championship, level with Whitehaven and Batley Bulldogs, but with a far superior points difference.

RECAP: Featherstone Rovers 24-34 York Knights

Applegarth made one change to the side that thrashed Dewsbury Rams 40-0 last weekend, with Leigh Leopards loanee Jacob Gannon returning from a two-month injury lay-off to start at loose forward.

That saw Jordan Thompson moved to prop, whilst Conor Fitzsimmons was named on the bench and Sam Cook – who made his debut last weekend – dropped to 18th man.

Featherstone named a characteristically strong line-up, with debutant Dec Patton joined by Aekins, Greg Eden, Greg Minikin and prolific try-scorer Gareth Gale – identified by Applegarth as their four danger men.

York made a poor start and were duly punished after coughing up the game’s first penalty for a high tackle on Gadwin Springer with just two minutes on the clock.

With Featherstone’s pack making inroads with ease, Day proved too big and too strong for the Knights’ try-line defence as he barged his way over to the left of the posts.

Patton slotted over his first points for the club from the tee.

Will Dagger took an almighty knock as he collected the former Bradford Bulls star’s reverse kick under pressure on his 10-metre line, and things went from bad to worse for York from the next set.

Their defence was nowhere to be seen as Aekins grounded Patton’s grubber into the left corner. Patton could not convert, but Featherstone were still scoring at more than a point a minute.

The hosts should have had their third of the afternoon four minutes later after a rapid left-wing break, but Dagger and Joe Brown did just enough to force a sloppy final pass.

It took until the 14th minute for the Knights to make their first foray inside the Featherstone half after Will Jubb had been charged down out of dummy half at the play-the-ball.

Hingano found Brad Ward with a looping cut-out pass that was never really on, but though the ball came back out to Gannon, his grubber had far too much on it, and instead handed the hosts a seven-tackle set.

Jubb was denied from a trademark dummy-half scoot two minutes later, and the Knights soon found themselves further behind.

Gale started a silky flowing move before passing back inside to Louix Gorman, who raced forward before freeing Turner to touch down beneath the posts. Patton could not miss the conversion.

Dagger’s restart went out on the full, handing Featherstone another glorious opportunity, but Ward did well to collect Patton’s kick on the last.

Hingano saw the ball come free from his grasp as he bore down on the line, but the Knights didn’t have to wait long to bring themselves onto the board.

Having capitalised on Turner’s sloppy offload, Thompson fed Teanby with a neat shift, and defenders were motionless as the interchange prop surged across into the left corner before Dagger slotted over the extras.

Jack Teanby brought the Knights onto the scoreboard just before the half-hour. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography)

Jimmy Keinhorst almost added his name to the scoresheet from the restart but was penalised for an incorrect play-the-ball inside the 10-metre line.

Instead, it was the hosts who had the final word before the break, Patton handing his side an 18-6 advantage with a penalty after a tackle by Brenden Santi that was put on record.

York came out with a fire under them after the interval, forcing the game’s first goal-line drop-out before winning a penalty for a high tackle.

And they needed no second invitation to resume the scoring, Brown providing a stunning diving finish into the right corner to continue his rich vein of form.

Dagger superbly converted from the touchline, but York were again poor from the restart, with Santi unable to take the ball cleanly.

The Knights though survived the pressure from the goal-line drop-out, and an unforced error, with Springer twice penalised for an incorrect play-the-ball.

Applegarth’s side regrouped, scoring twice in the 10 minutes that followed.

First, after Harris’ grubber had forced Day to concede another drop-out, Hingano burst through half a gap before feeding the supporting Daley, who took two defenders with him as he reached out a hand to score, before Ta’ai proved too big and too strong for Featherstone’s defence as he twisted his way out of a tackle to score next to the posts.

Josh Daley celebrates his second-half try. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography)

Dagger converted both, handing the Knights the lead for the first time on the hour.

The visitors did well to deny Minikin after Dagger’s restart had gone out on the full, but their defence was soon breached for a fourth time after stand-in centre Nikau Williams lost the ball just outside his 10-metre line.

Turner surged through a gap before narrowing the angle for Patton to level the scores once more.

York lost Thompson to a HIA with just over 10 minutes remaining but could not be stopped.

Hingano’s 40/20 proved the gamechanger, and after seeing a teammate brought down narrowly short, he sidestepped a handful of defenders before surging across just to the right of the posts.

Dagger saw York regain their lead, but that was by no means safe, with some heroic defending denying the hosts after Harris’ kick bounced off Turner and into touch.

Captain Liam Harris added the final flourish with a long-range effort late on. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography)

But their captain soon atoned, providing a final flourish, after combining with Dagger in a long-range break to confirm a famous victory.

Dagger missed his only attempt from the tee, but it mattered little on a day to remember for the Knights.

FEATHERSTONE ROVERS: Aekins, Eden, Gorman, Minikin, Gale, Turner, Patton, Nakubuwai, Jones, Springer, Day, Johnson, Addy.

INTERCHANGES: Bowes, England, Kamano, Fishwick.

TRIES: Day (3), Aekins (8), Turner (18, 65)

GOALS: Patton 4/5

YORK KNIGHTS: Dagger, Brown, Williams, Keinhorst, Ward, Harris, Hingano, Ta’ai, Jubb, Thompson, Field, Bailey, Gannon.

INTERCHANGES: Daley, Teanby, Santi, Fitzsimmons.

TRIES: Teanby (27), Brown (44), Daley (54), Ta’ai (58), Hingano (70), Harris (79)

GOALS: Dagger 5/6

POINTS SEQUENCE: 4-0, 6-0, 10-0, 14-0, 16-0, 16-4, 16-6, 18-6, 18-10, 18-12, 18-16, 18-18, 18-22, 18-24, 22-24, 24-24, 24-28, 24-30, 24-34.

HALF TIME: 18-6

YORK’S STAR MAN: Ata Hingano. The Tongan half-back was at the heart of the Knights’ attacking play, with his 40/20 with just 10 minutes remaining decisive in their victory.

REFEREE: Scott Mikalauskas