Whitehaven 32 York 22: York take bonus point after Lineham double

The Knights seemed to be getting on top midway through the second half as they tried to overturn a 14-12 deficit.

However, after they missed a couple of chances Whitehaven went up the other end to score through Chris Fleming after Jamie Shaul had missed out from a Carl Sice kick.

That rocked the visitors and lifted the hosts, who posted two more tries through Jessie Joe Parker and Paul Cullnean to make it 32-12 after 77 minutes and seal the victory.

York won the ball back from the restart, though, and Lineham powered over from dummy-half before, in the last play of the game, winning the race to a Danny Nicklas kick to give his team the bonus point.

It had been 8-6 at half-time, with former Super League prop Paul Jackson putting Whitehaven ahead midway through the period after a nip-and-tuck opening, 
before James Ford levelled for York after a great run by the impressive Jack Lee.

Jamie Rooney kicked a penalty – adding to his five conversions – on the half-time hooter, before Lee put York ahead shortly after the interval, augmented by Simon Brown’s second of three conversions. A Craig Calvert try, on the back of a bulldozing Dave Houghton run, put Whitehaven back ahead though, and it was they who went on to win it.

Lineham, Shaul and Nicklas, along with Josh Bowden and Dean Hadley, were five dual-registration players from Hull in York’s starting 13.

Whitehaven: Thorman, Calvert, Parker, McAvoy, Fleming, Rooney, Southernwood, Jackson, Newton, Cullnean, Doran, Clarke, Paterson. Substitutes: Sice, Houghton, Martins, Cameron.

York City Knights: Carr, Lineham, Ford, Latus, Shaul, Brown, Nicklas, Bowden, Lee, Aldous, Scott, Hadley, Golden: Substitutes: Brining, Haynes, Bell, Sullivan.

Referee: W Turley (Leigh).