After half an hour of the game, Skolars were just two points behind. However, a late burst in the first half then saw a 10 try torrent in the second half as the visitors ripped through the defence with ease. It was Skolars worst home defeat since they lost 6-80 to the Knights back in 2009.
After an early defensive effort that saw them defend four sets near their line, Skolars went into the lead when a speculative Aaron Small kick bounced right for Kazeem Fatouri-Edwards to score on the right. Harvey Burnett went close, stopped by Nev Morrison and after a Liam Foran pass was intercepted York moved upfield.
The Knights found a gap on the right, Morrison crossed the line. The in-goal area is longer at New River than previous seasons, but he unaccountably lost the ball as he moved towards the posts unopposed. However, it wasn’t long before another attack from deep, Jonny Pressley setting up Ed Smith.
Liam Cunningham opened up the defence on the left, and Morrison was again involved in drama as he crossed the line, this time a trip by Aaron Small, who was sin-binned. The try was awarded, followed by a penalty under the posts.
Will Fairhurst went close at the other end for Skolars, but a loose pass saw York regain possession and Peter Aspinall then went 70 metres to score their third try. Worse was to follow for Skolars, kicking directly into touch. That gave the Knights just enough time to score again through Cunningham.
York’s dominance continued straight after the break with Kris Brining scoring after Haynes had set up good field position. Cunnigham set up Pat Smith’s try with Greg Minikin crossing the line five minutes later. When Aspinall went over totally unchallenged for his second try, the Knights had scored 40 points in 21 minutes.
Skolars went close when David Williams was held up, but yet another loose pass saw Morrison race 85 metres to score again. The home side scored when Seb Kolasa put Fatouri-Edwards through for his second try, but it was one way traffic in the last 12 minutes. Harry Carter went from dummy half to score without a hand being placed on him, then Mark Applegarth set up Jake Joynt. From the next set Morrison completed his hat-trick with a run from halfway.
Pat Smith scored his second try after Cunningham broke the line and then set up the final try, chipping over the defence, James Haynes kicking it in to ground it to add to his 11 conversions.
LONDON SKOLARS
1 Aaron Small
2 Seb Kolasa
3 Mike Benson
4 Kazeem Fatouri-Edwards
5 James Carty
6 Tommy Connick
7 Liam Foran
13 Louis Robinson
9 Sam Druce
10 David Williams
11 Harvey Burnett
12 Anthony Cox
22 Will Fairhurst
Subs (all used)
8 Michael Sykes
21 Dave Ellison
15 James Anthony
16 Louie Sutherland
Tries: Fatouri-Edwards (8,64)
Goals: Connick 0/1, Druce 1/1
KNIGHTS
1 James Haynes
5 Nev Morrison
3 Greg Minikin
16 Peter Aspinall
24 Tyler Craig
27 Jonny Presley
7 Pat Smith
28 Brad Nicholson
9 Harry Carter
10 Jack Aldous
12 Ed Smith
15 Josh Tonks
8 Mark Applegarth
Subs (all used)
14 Kristian Brining
13 Colton Roche
4 Liam Cunningham
18 Jake Joynt
Tries: Morrison (32,59.75), E Smith (25), Aspinall (37, 63), Cunningham (40), Brining (43), P Smith (45,77), Carter (68), Joynt (73), Smith (77), Haynes (80)
Goals: Haynes 11/15
Penalty count: 3-10
Half-time: 4-14
Referee: Warren Turley
Attendance: 156
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 4-6, 4-14, 4-20,4-26, 4-32, 4-38, 4-42, 4-46, 4-50, 10-50, 10-56, 10-62, 10-68, 10-72, 10-78
