York Knights 26-12 Barrow Raiders: Match Report

York Knights beat Barrow Raiders 26-12 at the LNER Community Stadium to remain top of the Betfred Championship.

Their 12th consecutive win, and 10th successive league victory, came from an error filled game, played at times in heavy rain which led to difficult handling conditions.

However, the Knights never lost the lead they gained after just 8 minutes, and they went on to score five tries on their way to victory.

Barrow scored twice in quick succession in the second half to reduce the deficit from 20 points to eight, but Connor Bailey’s try with five minutes to go made sure of another win for York.

A downpour before kick off meant conditions were greasy, but the early stages saw remarkably few handling errors.

It was York who scored first after forcing a drop out. In the next set, fast hands to the left found Joe Law, who forced his way through what had been some stern Barrow defence. Harris couldn’t convert.

As the rain continued to fall, handling started to be affected, and with both sides spilling possession the game struggled to fall into any rhythm.

After forcing another drop out, York gained possession near the line after Barrow went short. Will Dagger, back in the side after four months out with a quad injury, went close before the ball was fired out wide for Scott Galeano to score. Again, Harris couldn’t convert from the touchline.

As the rain continued, York put pressure on the Barrow line, with Kieran Buchanan being held up, and Toa Mata’afa was pulled back for obstruction. Eventually the pressure turned into points when Sam Cook burrowed over from dummy half. Harris’ kick was successful from in front of the posts.

Barrow had an opportunity to get off the mark when Luke Broadbent won a foot race to a kick in goal, only for him to be ruled out of the field of play as he got a hand to the ball. It meant the Knights took a 14-0 lead into half time.

Conditions briefly improved as the second half started, but it was still proving hard for either team to click into top gear. The Knights were still enjoying the better of the field position, but couldn’t quite turn it into points despite going close.

Barrow were coming up with the most errors of the two, and it was off the back of a knock on that York got the first try of the second half. Cook scored again from dummy half, and Harris converted again from in front of the posts.

WIth the Knights 20-0 ahead, the Raiders had their best spell of the game. This time it was York’s turn to put in some fierce tackling, and the line stayed intact.

Eventually, as more errors crept into York’s game, Barrow’s Luke Cresswell took an offload and scampered through a gap to score. Ryan Shaw converted.

After a knock on from the restart, Barrow again found themselves in good position and prop, Thomas Walker crashed in for a second Raiders try in three minutes. Shaw’s conversion brought them to within eight points.

With knock-ons becoming increasingly frequent as rain started falling again it was proving ever harder for either side to take control of the game.

So when Connor Bailey scored a converted try after some lovely passing from Jordan Thompson and Paul McShane, the relief among the York fans was palpable.

With four minutes remaining, more pressure came from Barrow after another York mistake but this time the defence stood strong.

It proved enough to secure a 14 point win and keep the Knights at the top of the table for another week.

York: Mata’afa, Jones-Bishop, Law, Galeano, Dagger, Harris, Martin, McShane, Ta’ai, Field, Bailey, Thompson

Subs (all used): Santi, Cook, Hudson, Clark

18th Player: Brown

Tries: Law (8), Galeano (21), Cook (34, 52), Bailey (75)

Goals: Harris (3/5)

Barrow: Cresswell, Broadbent, Costello, Teare, Shaw, Bishop, Johnston, T Walker, Wood, Brown, Robson, Stack, B Walker

Subs (all used): Doolan, Greenwood, Bedward, Emslie

18th Player: Smith

Tries: Cresswell (62), T. Walker (65)

Goals: Shaw (2/2)