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York City Knights66 Tries: Mazive (8, 60, 79) Ellis (10) Scott (35) Moss (40, 42) Smith (52, 63) Oakes (54) Dixon (72) Goals: Robinson (40) Conversions: Robinson (10/11) |
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London Skolars6 Tries: Hall (16) Conversions: Thorman (16) |
York City Knights continued their incredible winning run with a mammoth victory over London Skolars.
The 66-6 winning scoreline over a London side, who are certainly no mugs after scoring 76 points the previous week, has left many of us thinking: is anybody going to stop the Knights at this rate?
They even managed the incredible win without some of their best players, as head coach James Ford made six changes to the side that beat Newcastle last week.
Ford rested star second rower Joe Batchelor, as well as front line prop’s Graeme Horne and Adam Robinson for Sunday’s game (April 15).
Mike Kelly replaced Batchelor in second row, while Chris Siddons and Jordan Walne filled in the prop positions left by Horne and Robinson.
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| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | PD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doncaster | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 238 | 72 | 166 | 10 |
| 2 | Bradford | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 206 | 73 | 133 | 10 |
| 3 | York | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 178 | 92 | 86 | 10 |
| 4 | Whitehaven | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 178 | 94 | 84 | 8 |
| 5 | Hunslet | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 139 | 130 | 9 | 8 |
| 6 | Newcastle | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 158 | 92 | 66 | 6 |
| 7 | Workington | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 199 | 133 | 66 | 6 |
| 8 | Oldham | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 126 | 98 | 28 | 6 |
| 9 | Keighley | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 198 | 178 | 20 | 6 |
| 10 | London Skolars | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 166 | 212 | -46 | 5 |
| 11 | Crusaders | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 120 | 144 | -24 | 3 |
| 12 | Coventry | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 68 | 214 | -146 | 2 |
| 13 | Hemel Stags | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 58 | 238 | -180 | 0 |
| 14 | Raiders | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 26 | 288 | -262 | 0 |
Business as usual
Fresh from their 26-16 win over Newcastle last week, the Knights were rampant from the off at Bootham Crescent, and they were first on the scoresheet for the third consecutive home match.
Knights Line-up
Full Back: Keiron Moss
Wing: Judah Mazive
Centre: Jake Normington
Centre: William Oaks
Wing: Ash Robson
Stand Off: Ben Cockayne
Scrum Half: Connor Robinson
Prop: Chris Siddons
Hooker: Andy Ellis
Prop: Jordan Walne
Second Row: Michael Kelly
Second Row: Sam Scott
Loose Forward: Tim Spears (c)
Interchange: Joe Porter, Aaron Smith, Ronan Dixon, Dan Hawksworth, Liam Jackson
It took just six minutes for speedy winger Judah Mazive to score with a trademark acrobatic finish in the corner. Connor Robinson failed with the conversion, but that would prove to be the only time he missed the mark for the rest of the game.
Just four minutes later, it was 10-0 to the Knights, as Andy Ellis scooted over from close range after racing to the try line from Dummy Half.
The Knights seemed in total control, but they were pegged back six minutes later. A well-timed pass out of the back saw the line open up for Elliot Hall to cross for London, and former Knight Neil Thorman added the extras with a conversion.
The Skolars took a well confidence boost from that, and they were the more attacking side for the next 15 minutes. However, the Knights weathered the storm well.
On 35 minutes, York restored their 10-point lead when Sam Scott stretched over to score after an excellent break from Keiren Moss.
Moss then got on the score sheet himself, when he was on hand to finish an excellent move from 30 yards out, after Dan Hawksworth initiated a breakaway from the back.
The Knights were cruising. And just before half time, expert marksman Robinson took it upon himself to add gloss to the score line with a drop goal on the stroke of half time, to make it 24-6 to York at the break.
Whitewash!
After a decent first half performance, things were about to get a lot better for the Knights, who went on to score a whopping seven second half tries without reply.
Just two minutes after the restart, Moss started the romp when he finished off a wonderful move from half-way involving Smith, Cockayne and Normington to score his second of the afternoon.
Ten minutes later, Ben Cockayne expertly kicked a 40-20 to set the platform for new attacking ace Aaron Smith to score from dummy-half to make the score 36-6.
Many described the Knights next try as move of the match. It came straight from the kick off, as Moss took it in his hands, before laying off to Will Oakes, who raced an inconceivable 85 meters to score.
Six minutes later it got even better, as Mazive produced a carbon copy of his first salmon-dive finish, to score his second and the Knights’ eighth try of the day.
Speaking of carbon copy finishes, Aaron Smith produced one of his own on 63 minutes. The St Helens loanee raced over once more from dummy-half to bring the Knights over the 50 points mark.
Hat-trick fantastic
London were well beaten after conceding five tries in just over 20 minutes, but the Knights were not finished with them yet.
With ten minutes remaining, Robinson set the platform for yet another Knights try with an impressive 40-20 kick.
Seconds after entering the field, Ronan Dixon picked up the ball up from the kick and ran over challenges coming in from several defenders, to score from close range.
The Skolars went close twice after winning possession back from the restart in one of their only attacks of the half.
However, it was to no avail, as Mazive used his blistering pace to beat four defenders and complete his hat-trick from 30 metres. What a signing he is turning out to be.
That capped off an all-around excellent day at the office for the Knights, who after recording their seventh straight victory, are level on points at the top of Betfred League 1.
They will now look forward to a big Challenge Cup fifth round tie at home to French Super League giants Catalan Dragons on Sunday, oo la la!