Rochdale Hornets 12 York City Knights 36: Waterman orchestrates comfortable York win

Star of the show was centre Lee Waterman with a hat trick of tries among his 18 points, closely followed by powerful prop forward Brett Waller who stepped up to help himself to a brace of tries.

The opening 30 minutes of the game were evenly contested with Waterman's opening try cancelled out by Liam Bostock's 15th-minute effort for the home side.

Waterman then ran in the second try for the visitors and the turning point came on the stroke of half-time when Jonathan Schofield intercepted Ryan Powell's wayward pass to race clear to score.

Waller scored an early try in the second half and added another five minutes later to virtually seal the game. for an impressive Knights line-up.

By this stage York were dominating possession and were rewarded for their expansive play when Waterman completed his hat trick.

Hornets rallied briefly with a try from Dean Hatton, but York had the final say when second row forward Chris Clough had the visiting support on their feet as he galloped 60 metres to score.

Waterman also enjoyed a good evening in Lancashire with the boot, slotting over four conversions.

Rochdale Hornets: English, Johnson, Gorton, Smith, Taylor, Powell, Duffy, Samuel, Bostock, Austick, Ashall, Hobson, Donoghue. Substitutes: Hore, Cocker, Hatton, Roper.

York City Knights: Ratcliffe, Reittie, Mitchell, Waterman, Lewis, Thorman, Schofield, Applegarth, McLocklan, Benson, Ross, Clough, Blakeway. Substitutes: Danny Hill, Luke Hardbottle, Waller, Stamp.

Referee: C Halloran (Dewsbury).

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