MATCH REPORT: London Broncos 6-36 York Knights

LONDON BRONCOS V YORK CITY KNIGHTS (by David Ballheimer)

London Broncos (6) 6, York City Knights (10) 36

London Broncos conceded four tries in 18 early second-half minutes which allowed York RL Knights to run away with the game at a cold and blowy Cherry Red Records stadium. The dismal chill that developed through the early evening was rather indicative of the London performance.

It all seemed very different in bright warm sunshine during the opening exchanges, and it was the Broncos who scored first, in the eighth minute. The possession went almost 100 metres starting with an excellent kick return by Chris Hellec. A penalty late in the possession essentially gave a repeat set, starting five metres from the York line and, a few tackles later, the ball was fed to the left wing, where Liam Tindall was able to squeeze over in the corner. Hellec’s conversion from the touchline was superb.

The restart went out on the full, so York were given a penalty on half-way and they marched downfield and completed the possession with Sam Cook burrowing under a couple of tacklers to score. Although they conceded a penalty, giving York more than six tackles, the Broncos’ defence was much better, and they did get the ball back. They, unfortunately, made a mess at the end of the possession and the Knights were able to move away from the danger.

Three York players stood out in the second half, Harris, Thompson and Paul McShane and it was the last two of these who started the move that led to Jones-Bishop completing his double, after 56 minutes, the last pass coming from Kieran Buchanan, who might have been able to touch down himself. Even with the gusty wind at his back, Harris’s conversion sailed wide.

The misery continued for the Broncos seven minutes later, Oli Field crashing over between three tacklers and the referee was happy the ball had been grounded. Harris did not make this kick. And it could have been much worse for the Broncos as York broke through the line three times, but they blew great scoring chances with a couple of errant passes and a misplaced kick.

Thompson and Harris had joined Ata Hingano on the bench for the final few minutes, but McShane was still out there, running and probing from hooker and he was involved in the move in the 77th minute which saw full-back Joe Brown score in the left corner. McShane, no stranger to kicking duties from his decade with the Castleford Tigers, kicked the conversion. 

London Broncos: 6, Luke Polselli, 2 Chris Hellec, 20 Aaron Small, 14 Louix Gorman, 5 Liam Tindall, 1 Alex Walker, 27 Lennie Ellis. 12 Sadiq Adebiyi, 9 Curtis Davies, 16 Kian McDermott, 11 Will Lovell, 19 Lukas Mason, 13 Marcus Stock. Replacements: 8 Huw Worthington, 22 Matt Ross, 28 Jenson Binks, 33 Emmanuel Waine. 18th man: 18 Ben Hursey-Hord.

Tries: Tindall (7)

Goals: Hellec 1/1

Sin-bin: none

York Knights: 2 Joe Brown, 34 Ben Jones-Bishop, 3 Kieran Buchanan, 4 Joe Law, 35 Scott Galeano, 6 Ata Hingano, 7 Liam Harris, 8 Jack Martin, 9 Paul McShane, 24 Harvey Reynolds, 11 Jesse Dee, 12 Connor Bailey, 13 Jordan Thompson. Replacements: 19 Sam Cook, 20 Oli Field, 21 Connor Fitzsimmons, 31 Kieran Hudson. 18th man: 14 Taylor Pemberton. 

Tries: Galeano (16), Jones-Bishop (37, 56), Thompson (45), Cook (48), Field (63), Brown (77)

Goals: Harris 3/6; McShane 1/1

Sin-bin: none