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York Knights fell to a 50-6 defeat to unbeaten Betfred Championship leaders Wakefield Trinity at the LNER Community Stadium.
The Knights made a bright start, dominating the early stages before a quick-fire Lachlan Walmsley double and scores from Ky Rodwell, Josh Griffin and Mathieu Cozza put Wakefield into an unassailable 30-0 lead.
Connor Bailey got York on the board before half-time and the hosts held out Wakefield for the first 25 minutes of the second period before a flurry of four tries in the final quarter of an hour as Walmsley scored twice more and Luke Gale and Max Jowitt crossed the whitewash.
York made a strong start, with some expert short-kicking from Ata Hingano forcing two goal-line drop-outs inside the first 10 minutes as the hosts enjoyed the lion’s share of the early territory.
But the Knights were dealt a sucker-punch when an error inside their own 10m was capitalised on by Walmsley.
The former Halifax Panthers man then grabbed his second four minutes later, finishing off a cut-out pass from Max Jowitt in the left corner. Jowitt would finish with seven conversions from nine attempts.
Ky Rodwell followed across the whitewash, with the prop breaking the line on the Knights 40 before dummying past Joe Brown to get under the sticks.
Wakefield stretched out their lead to 30-0 by the half-hour mark as Griffin hit a fine line from Luke Gale’s short pass before Mathieu Cozza crashed through the posts via a Jowitt lay-off ball.
The Knights did manage to post their first points of the contest before the break, with Hingano’s fine kicking display finally paying dividends as Bailey dived on his poked kick to the left corner.
Similarly to the first period, York earned some good field position early in the second half, with Hingano twice kicking neatly to force goal-line drop-outs, although the home side were unable to capitalise.
With 15 minutes left, Wakefield broke the second-half stalemate with four tries before the final hooter.
Quick hands down the left flank sent Walmsley in for his hat-trick before Griffin’s line break put the supporting Gale away.
Croft then cut back in from the left to set up Jowitt, with the full-back turning provider for Walmsley for the ninth and final Wakefield try, finding another miss-out pass to put the winger in at the left corner.
York: Brown, Towse, Harrison, Bailey, Lineham, Hingano, Daley, Ta’ai, Jubb, Gannon, Field, Reynolds, Thompson
Subs (all used): Fitzsimmons, Teanby, Michael, Pemberton
18th Player: Ward
Tries: Bailey (38’)
Goals: Harrison (1/1)
Wakefield: Jowitt, Olpherts, Thornley, Croft, Walmsley, Gale, Lino, Bowden, Doyle, Rodwell, Ashurst, Griffin, Cozza
Subs (all used): Kay, Uele, Vagana, Smith
18th Player: Booth
Tries: Walmsley (11’, 15’, 64’, 75’), Rodwell (20’), Griffin (26’), Cozza (31’), Gale (67’), Jowitt (70’)
Goals: Jowitt (7/9)
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