Pocklington 24 - 12 Knottingley
Pocklington
had to work hard to secure a sixth successive league win at home to Knottingley
in a game where defence always had the edge over attacking play.
Phosyn Yara
sponsored Pocklington were penalised from the kick off but Knottingley were off
target with a long penalty. And when Pocklington took play back up into the other
half Nick Bennett banged over a good penalty kick to give the home side a fourth
minute lead that they never lost.
Pocklington had a clear technical advantage,
especially when it came to passing the ball wide, while Knottingley used their
big pack effectively with several strong charges in midfield.
But Knottingley
also struggled with their kicking game, missing for both position and goal, while
good touchfinders from Pocklington put them on the front foot before two neat
offloads then brought them a fine try. Returning centre Tom Stokes put fullback
Bennett through a gap 40 yards out, then the ball was recycled and Henry Mitchell's
pop pass sent prop Dave Birch diving over.
Bennett missed the conversion but
added another penalty to put his side in the driving seat at 11-0 near the end
of the first half. However, Pocklington then made a mess of the restart to give
Knottingley the platform to get a converted pushover try to be back in it at 11-7
at the interval, Bennett seeing an optimistic 56-yard penalty drop short with
the last kick of the half.
Dan Wilson atoned for his earlier error with a mercurial
35-yard break at the start of the second period. But Pocklington conceded a number
of unnecessary penalties to hand the initiative back to Knottingley, and they
had to do plenty of defending as Knottingley pressed. But the home side held firm
on their own line, repulsing Knottingley's drive for the line six times before
turning over posession and clearing. Pocklington then took play to the other end
where Bennett kicked his third penalty.
Pocklington resumed the offensive and
attacked strongley down the right to force a five yard scrum, and when they swung
the ball wide left Bennett joined the line at pace, stepped inside and twisted
over to make it 19-7 at the beginning of the final quarter.
Back came Knottingley
and Pocklington were once again forced into desperate defence on their own line
before having a man dismissed following a ruck infringement. Knottingley took
advantage to turn the screw and they crossed on the blind side after more close
range pack pressure.
That put Knottingley within a converted try of getting
back on terms. But the numbers were evened up as Knottingley had a prop sent off,
and Pocklington finished the game the stronger. They tried to force their way
over on the left, only to be held up then dispossessed. But they kept Knottingley
pinned in the corner and deep into injury time when man of the match, Paul Rhodes,
stole the ball from the back of a Knottingley scrum and jubilantly wrestled his
way over in the corner to seal victory.