Esders try too late for beaten Knights

With incessant rain from the kick-off testing the players’ mental approach there was only a minute on the clock when Referee Craig Halloran sent York forward Matt Garside to the sin-bin for a late challenge on Chas I’Anson as he kicked through on the first set.

But York weathered this additional storm and took the lead after Ed Smith tore through to score with his first touch after joining the fray from the bench. The tackles were uncompromising and bordering on illegal as Kurt Haggerty levelled the scores after running a clean line to score from another penalty.

York appeared anything but the anticipated underdog and again took the lead after Esders forced the pass for Ben Jones to score, although with the clock running down to half-time it was impressive second-rower MacGraff Leuluai’s power that took him through the tackles to level the scores.

Shortly after the break Leuluai was held short after another powerful run but Coyle’s pass found Dom Crosby for the dual-registered Wigan player to use his strength and touch down.

Tempers became increasingly fractuous before Tangi Ropati superbly anticipated Chas I’Anson’s pass to score and create a decisive 10-point advantage.

Although York bombarded the Widnes line after Esders’s late try the Vikings defence held tight.

York City Knights: Bush, Sutton, Ford, Esders, Haynes, Thackeray, Thorman, Freer, Lee, Benson, Straugheir, Garside, Clarke. Substitutes: Smith, Lewis, Presley, Jones.

Widnes: Flynn, Gaskell, Ropati, Tyrer, Penny, J Coyle, I’Anson, Pickersgill, T Coyle, Kavanagh, Finnigan, Leuluai, Haggerty. Substitutes: Gardner, Varkulis, Lunt, Crosby

Referee: Craig Halloran (Dewsbury).

Championship: Sheffield Eagles kept up the charge at the top of the Co-operative Championship with a 32-16 win away to struggling Toulouse.

Tim Bergin, Andrew Henderson, Alex Rowe, Misi Taulapapa, Menzie Yere and Peter Green all crossed for tries in a comfortable victory for the visitors.

“I thought defensively we were solid enough, but our attack and half back play were disappointing” explained man-of-the-match Andrew Henderson.

After a dreadful start which saw Alex Szostak sinbinned for a high shot and the French team under the posts for a six nil lead, Sheffield battled back tries from Bergin and Henderson.

A period of sustained Toulouse pressure, with a try from the diminutive winger White, restored parity at 10-10 but a try to Togagae saw the Yorkshiremen lead 16-0 at half-time.

Despite conceding an early score, with White grabbing his second try of the game, Sheffield went on to dominate the second half with tries from Tualapapa, Yere and Green.

Brown’s fourth successful kick completed the scoring. Not the most impressive of performances from Mark Aston’s men who believes that his charges “lacked the cohesion of previous weeks, and we have lots to work on”, but one that maintains their impressive record against the French side, and keeps them very much interested at the top end of the table.

Toulouse: Bromley, Albert, Ormeno, Tisseyre, White, Nicholls, Villegas, Ancely, Cook, Corcoran, Wynn, Maria, Houles. Substitute: Gout, Larroyer, Faure, Gigord.

Sheffield: Tualapapa, Finigan, Yere, Hanson, Bergin, Togagae, Brown, Howieson, Henderson, Stringer, Szostak, Green, Hirst. Substitutes: Scott, Smith, Hepworth, Rowe.

Referee: J Leahy (RFL).

Championship One: Keighley Cougars scored 16 unanswered points after trailing 12-0 against the London Skolars, before suffering a heartbreaking 18-16 defeat at New River Stadium.

Skolars took the lead via tries from Jaroslaw Obuchowski and Ben Bolger, Dylan Skee converted one and kicked a penalty.

Jason Demetriou replied with a try before Jermaine Wray was the next to score, taking a short pass from Demetriou and wriggling through. Lawton’s conversion bounced off the upright and over.

Keighley supporters thought their team had snatched the points when a charge from Ryan Benjafield brought him a try close to the posts. Lawton’s kick made it 16-12 to the Cougars.

But Will Cartledge knocked on and Ade Adebisi crossed for London to tie the game before Skee kicked a late penalty.

London Skolars: Anthony, Small, Brown, Arnot, Adebisi, Jy-Mel Coleman, Skee, Aggrey, Honor, Ball, Obuchowski, Bolger, Purslow. Substitutes: Gee, Clement-Pascall, Williams, Colleran.

Keighley Cougars: Haythornthwaite, Duffy, Lawton, Baines, Hutchinson, Demetriou, Helliwell, Benjafield, Feather, Law, Cartledge, Pursglove, Sagar. Substitutes: R Smith, Wray, Rawlins, R Jones.

Referee: M Kidd (RFL).

Oldham beat South Wales 35-18 in Championship One, while Workington romped to a 84-12 win over Gateshead.