York Knights close in on play-offs with dominant 34-4 win over Swinton

Mark Applegarth’s side were on top from the outset, appearing on a different level to Swinton, whose performance, bar a late Jake Spedding consolation, grew ever hapless as the clock ticked down.

The Knights fought back from a 22-point deficit to astonishingly claim the spoils at Heywood Road back in May but wasted no time in coming out of the blocks in front of their home crowd this time around.

Hooker Josh Daley burrowed over to open the scoring with just over a quarter of an hour played, with Ata Hingano converting a penalty before Nikau Williams surged through a gaping hole in the Swinton defence to put the Knights 12-0 up.

But they were forced to close out the half with 12 men after Connor Bailey was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle in what was the only dampener of an afternoon as sizzling as the sunshine for the Knights.

It took 12 minutes for captain Jimmy Keinhorst to resume the scoring after the break, with Williams crossing for his second and Oli Field touching down into the right corner in a devastating six-minute burst.

Sam Cook closed out the hosts’ scoring with an outrageous dummy before Spedding’s consolation, but though Joe Brown missed a late penalty, it failed to affect the final result.

MATCH RECAP: York Knights 34-4 Swinton Lions

Applegarth made three changes from the side that were defeated at Bradford last week, with the influential Hingano replacing Jack Potter in the halves, Daley preferred to Will Jubb at hooker, and Ronan Michael handed a start at loose forward.

Swinton started Andy Badrock, who scored twice in the reverse fixture, with George Roby making his impact felt off the bench, but they offered relatively little throughout.

The Knights came out like a train, enjoying the lions’ share of the early field position after being awarded a penalty for a ball steal on Michael before winning a goal-line drop-out.

However, they could capitalise on neither, with Daley ruled to have been held up underneath the posts before Keinhorst was bundled into touch, having readjusted himself as he took a poor pass.

A contentious knock-on and ball spill presented the Lions with their first opportunity with eight minutes played, but Brown was out well to force the handover five metres from his own line.

Williams, with Applegarth’s faith in him at full-back despite a shaky performance there against Bradford, failed his first test under the high ball before the Knights were penalised for offside, however, Swinton could find no way through.

The Knights welcomed back Ata Hingano, who scored five of his seven attempts from the tee. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography)

York instead found themselves in front in the blink of an eye.

Brenden Santi was brought down just short as he drove forward between two Lions’ defenders, with Daley backing himself out of dummy half and taking a handful of players with him as he twisted across just to the right of the posts.

Hingano made no mistake from the tee as he took over kicking duties and added another two points just four minutes later after a ball strip on Jack Teanby on the 30-metre line.

Young full-back Joe Purcell was a rare bright spark for the visitors, who did have their spells, but a poor goal-line drop-out typified their advances, even if they had seen the rub of the green of referee Kevin Moore’s decisions.

The Knights though were further in front just before the half-hour, Teanby somehow managing to offload to Williams, who surged through a gap in the Swinton defence to touch down to the left of the posts.

York’s ill-discipline continued to rear its head, seeing them concede consecutive penalties and a six-again, culminating in Bailey’s dismissal for a high tackle on the stroke of half time.

However, despite a period of pressure, Swinton were unable to capitalise on their man advantage.

They won a penalty, and then a six-again inside the 10-metre line, but Roby knocked-on as he looked to burrow over from dummy half.

Jimmy Keinhorst kickstarted a devastating three-try burst for the Knights. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography)

Back up to their full complement, the Knights then crucially extended their lead with 52 minutes played.

Hingano’s stunning cut-out pass found Brad Ward, with the winger allowed to race down the left edge before playing in the supporting Keinhorst to crash over.

Hingano added the extras and did so again three minutes later after a sweeping team move saw Williams dive beneath the posts after the ball had gone through Keinhorst, Cook and the Tongan half-back.

Any hope of a Swinton comeback was then firmly extinguished with a third try in six minutes, Field beating Rhys Williams to Cook’s chip before touching down into the right corner.

The Lions lost loose forward Mitchell Cox to a shoulder injury on the hour but found their attacking play lacking, with Roby left with little choice but to boot the ball into touch after failing to find willing runners.

York’s pace remained relentless in the heat, and they wrapped up their scoring with 13 minutes left to play after another flowing move.

A superb interchange between Ward and Jacob Gannon saw the ball go along the line to Williams, but though he was brought down 10 metres short, Cook threw a huge dummy before crashing over beneath the posts.

Hingano again converted, handing the Knights a 34-0 advantage.

But Swinton did finally give their travelling support something to cheer about three minutes from time, as after having won a dubious penalty, Richard Lepori’s cut-out pass released Spedding, who, with Ward caught ball-watching, raced 20 metres to score into the right corner.

Jordan Gibson was wide from the touchline.

The Knights did threaten to have the last word when Williams was caught high just outside the 10-metre line, but with Hingano substituted, Brown was well wide with his attempt after the final hooter.

Nonetheless, a fantastic afternoon for the Knights, who will hope to make it back-to-back wins at Halifax Panthers on Sunday.

YORK KNIGHTS: Williams, Ward, Keinhorst, Field, Brown, Hingano, Cook, Thompson, Daley, Santi, Bailey, Gannon, Michael.

INTERCHANGES: Fitzsimmons, Teanby, Cunningham, Reynolds

TRIES: Daley (16), Williams (28, 55), Keinhorst (52), Field (58), Cook (67)

G0ALS: Hingano 5/7, Brown 0/1

SIN BIN: Bailey (39, high tackle)

SWINTON LIONS: Purcell, Lepori, Spedding, Hatton, Williams, Hall, Gibson, Bennion, Burns, Houghton, Rodden, Badrock, Cox.

INTERCHANGES: Roby, Brown, Case, Hammond

TRIES: Spedding (77)

G0ALS: Gibson 0/1

POINTS SEQUENCE: 4-0, 6-0, 8-0, 12-0, 16-0, 18-0, 22-0, 24-0, 28-0, 32-0, 34-0, 34-4

HALF TIME: 12-0

YORK’S STAR MAN: Josh Daley. The Australian hooker was a constant threat for the Knights, and provided plenty of pace to their attack. An afternoon of outstanding performances across the pitch.

REFEREE: Kevin Moore