Barrow 18-30 York: Knights make it six wins on the bounce

York City Knights claimed their sixth straight victory with a professional display at the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium against Barrow.

The two sides traded tries throughout the first half, but tries from Matty Marsh and Jordan Thompson before the break had York up by 10 points.

The Knights had to defend for their lives in the second half, and got their reward with Liam Harris scoring a try and adding a penalty.

Barrow made two changes to the side beaten by Halifax last week. Jack Croft comes out of the squad, as does Carl Forster who is ill. Jack Wells comes into the squad, having returned on loan from Salford and Ryan Shaw also returns.

Meanwhile, York made three changes to the side that beat Whitehaven last week.  Levi Edwards, Sam Davis and Marcus Stock all make way. There were returns for Will Oakes, Jamie Ellis and Joe Porter.

Match Report

Barrow drew first blood after just seven minutes. Anton Iaria came onto a short ball and managed to stretch out with what was Barrow’s first attack of the game. Jarrod Sammut scored the conversion to give the Raiders a six-point lead.

However, Barrow’s lead would last just five minutes. Joe Brown managed to intercept the ball after Shane Toal couldn’t take in a pass, and he ran 60 metres to score. Liam Harris scored the conversion to level the scores.

Just past the 20-minute mark, York completed the turnaround. They worked the ball out well to the left-hand side, and Will Oakes scored in the corner. Harris could not add the conversion, but they still led by four points.

The hosts managed to respond just before the half-hour. Sammut put a reverse grubber-kick towards the in-goal area and Luke Cresswell got there first to score. Sammut added the conversion to put the Raiders back in front by two points.

But, in true form with the game, York hit back again just a few minutes later. Harris chipped a ball over the top, and Matty Marsh got there first to score under the posts.

Just before the break, the Knights got their biggest lead of the night with another try. Will Jubb dropped the ball off for Jordan Thompson, who went over for the try. Harris scored the conversion to give York a 10-point lead.

HT- Barrow 12-22 York

The first 20 minutes was played almost exclusively in the York half of the pitch. But the Knights defence managed to keep Barrow out every time.

With less than 15 minutes left, York got the try that their second half defensive efforts deserved. Harris went for the line out of dummy half, and managed to plant the ball down.

The Knights were almost out of sight with 10 minutes to go. The ball was worked out to Oakes on the left-hand side but the referee deemed he had a foot in touch.

Just a couple of minutes later, Harris kicked a penalty after a high shot to get York up to 30 points.

But the final word would go to Barrow. They worked the ball out to Gary Wheeler, who went over. Sammut scored the quick conversion.

That would be the way the game stayed until the end. York now have a week off before heading to Bradford in their next Championship match.

As for Barrow, attention turns to the 1895 Cup. They welcome Featherstone to Cumbria on Sunday

FT- Barrow 18-30 York

Team News

Barrow: Cresswell, Ritson, Wheeler, Shaw, Toal, Carter, Sammut, Brooks, Wood, Gillam, Langtree, Stack, Iaria. Subs: Wells, Mossop, Emslie, Eseh.

Tries: Iaria, Cresswell, Wheeler

Goals: Sammut 3/3

York: Marsh, Brown, Glover, Ogden, Oakes, O’Hagan, Harris, Matongo, Jubb, Pauli, Clarkson, Kirmond, Thompson. Subs: Ellis, Dixon, Porter, Teanby.

Tries: Brown, Oakes, Marsh, Thompson, Harris

Goals: Harris 5/6

Championship: Widnes suffer heavy defeat to Featherstone & Bradford bounce back