York City Knights 20, Keighley Cougars 12

COUGARS were left to rue a first-half horror show which saw them dumped out of the Challenge Cup in dismal fashion at Bootham Crescent.

Paul March headed back to his old club aiming to steer promotion-chasing Keighley into Tuesday’s fifth-round draw.

Yet that outcome never looked likely as York City Knights marched into a 20-0 interval lead thanks to tries from Mike Emmett, James Morland, Austin Buchanan and Danny Nicklas.

They were the least York deserved for their first-half superiority.

Cougars, whose defensive flaws were exposed during the 44-28 home defeat to Doncaster seven days previously, again looked brittle at the back and their ill discipline saw them concede 14 penalties.

York overflowed with vibrancy in attack during the opening 40 minutes but their success was also chiselled on aggression and obstinate defending.

Keighley were missing Andy Gabriel due to work commitments so former Bulls player Vinny Finigan made his first competitive start since joining the club in the summer.

Ross Peltier was left out and Sonny Esslemont came in on the bench but Adam Brook sent an early penalty wide after prop Brett Waller was guilty of holding down.

From there York took complete control, with loose forward Emmett opening the scoring in the 10th minute, barrelling his way over the line after hooker Harry Carter was denied.

Two minutes later, they scored again with a delightful effort which saw the ball pass through Carter and Ed Smith before centre Brad Hey ushered winger Morland over in the right corner.

The procession continued in the 19th minute when the impressive Nicklas found Wilkinson inside the left channel and he showed intelligence to find Austin Buchanan, who touched down in space unopposed in the corner.

Cougars did enjoy brief periods of pressure but James Ford’s men could easily have buckled.

Instead, they held firm and grabbed a fourth try on the half-hour mark when full back Wilkinson drove at the heart of Keighley’s defence.

His progress was halted by a saving tackle inside Cougars’ 20-metre line but scrum half Nicklas collected possession on the next tackle before leaving James Feather for dead as he scampered over the line.

Nicklas improved his own score but missed two earlier conversion attempts and then saw a penalty rebound off a post shortly before the break.

Cougars woke up at half-time and finally got off the mark in the 45th minute when Brook showed some neat footwork before going over from close range and then converted.

The visitors upped the tempo from there but York continued to fashion chances of their own and Waller went over but no score was awarded after Jonny Presley’s pass to the prop was forward.

After a mistake from York centre Conor Bower gifted Cougars possession, the visitors pushed the home defence to breaking point as Feather powered over the line and Brook converted to cut the Knights’ lead to eight points with 14 minutes remaining.

In the closing stages, Hamish Barnes knocked on as he touched down Paul Handforth’s last-tackle kick as York survived, earning themselves potentially money-spinning fifth-round tie at Cougars’ expense.

York City Knights: Wilkinson, Buchanan, Bower, Hey, Morland, Presley, Nicklas, Waller, Carter, Aldous, Mallinder, Smith, Emmett

Interchange: Brining, Applegarth, Spiers, Tonks

Cougars: R Hawkyard, Finigan, Martin, Barnes, White, Brook, Handforth, Bailey, Feather, Rawlins, Oakes, D Hawkyard, Ollett

Interchange: Law, Lindsay, Cherryholme, Esslemont

Referee: Jon Roberts

Attendance: 624