REPORT | Dons 0 York RLFC Knights 56

The Dons had an afternoon to forget at the Eco-Power Stadium as their Betfred Championship play-off hopes came to a grinding halt with defeat against York RLFC Knights.

Edene Gebbie and Craig Hall both got over the line in the first half for Richard Horne's side but saw scores wiped out by the referee as the visitors ran in three tries at the other end.

The hosts looked to make an encouraging start to the second half, but York eventually found their way and racked up another seven tries before the full time hooter.
Horne named an unchanged starting XIII to that of the narrow away defeat at Oldham RLFC seven days earlier, as the same bench also featured as interchanges.
York immediately pushed from the off and went close through Kieran Buchanan on the right, but he was held up on the line after two minutes.
The Dons had plenty of defensive work to do early on, and the initial resistance appeared more than equipped for the task.
But the hosts' line was broken for the first time on 13 minutes when Lalotao Mata'afa went over on the last on the right-hand side. Liam Harris added the extras.
The Knights were in luck on the right and went over again eight minutes later as Connor Bailey found the line. Harris again converted.
The Dons looked promising towards the half-hour mark and went close after 27 minutes when Watson Boas kicked into the goal area, but York's Ben Jones-Bishop scrambled out of danger in the nick of time.
Gebbie found a gap in the middle and carried over the line, but the referee pulled play back to the ten-metre line to penalise the Dons.
Hall grounded a ball in the goal area on 33 minutes after chasing down a ball on the left wing, but the referee again awarded a penalty to the visitors.
Despite the Dons seemingly looking to wrestle momentum, the Knights again ran in on the right up the other end as Mata'afa secured his brace after 37 minutes. Harris converted to give York an 18-point lead at the break.
Horne's men looked to make inroads from the restart as Connor Robinson looked to race away through the middle, but he was caught and released the ball.
The hosts looked to be applying the attacking pressure at the start of the second half, but the task was to get tougher.
York's Scott Galeano was allowed to break away and score his side's fourth try of the afternoon on 54 minutes. Harris made it four out of four with the boot.
And it was that effort that opened the floodgates. Oliver Field found a gap on the left and went over on the hour mark. Harris kept up his 100 per cent kicking accuracy to give his side a 30-point lead.
Galeano found himself with the ball on the left and passed inside for Jesse Dee to ground his first of the match with ease four minutes later. Harris added the extras again.
Dee was in again another four minutes later, with Galeano again finding the try scorer with a pass in from the left. Harris converted again.
Dee would complete a seven-minute hat-trick on 71 minutes, as he was allowed space to cross again on the left. Harris' kick was this time wide of the mark.
The Knights put 50 points between themselves and the Dons after 75 minutes as Field completed a brace of his own after breaking through on the left wing. Harris was again off target with what was to be his last conversion attempt.
The contest was long over, but York didn't let up and continued to show their ruthless edge right up until the final hooter. With more luck on the left, Mata'afa broke through and became the second hat-trick scorer of the match. Paul McShane converted the final scoring kick of the game in the final minute of the 80 to give the visitors a 56-point win in DN4.
Dons: Hall, Briscoe, Lyne, Hey, Gebbie, Johnston, Robinson, Bowden, Boas, Matagi, Jones, Smeaton, Knowles. Interchanges: Pauli, Misky, Hepi, Johnson.