By JOHN DAVIDSON
YORK Knights booked their place in the fifth round of the Challenge Cup with a one-sided demolition of Keighley Cougars.
York made short work of their Championship opponents as expected, running in five tries in the first half and six in the second to completely blow the Cougars out of the water.
Liam Harris and King Vuniyayawa each grabbed braces as the Knights moved into the quarter-finals.
York made several changes from their Super League defeat to Warrington, with Scott Galeano replacing the cup-tied David Nofoaluma on the wing, Ata Hingano replacing Danny Richardson in the halves and Vuniyayawa coming in for Jordan Thompson at loose forward.
It was a lively encounter from the kick off, the home side almost scoring in their first set with the ball.
David Foggin-Johnson made a great intercept and break of 60 metres in the fifth minute, but George Flanagan was held up over the tryline.
York drew first blood on 10 minutes when Liam Harris took a few defenders over the line with him after a strong carry.
Harris converted his own try to make it 6-0.
Four minutes later the Knights were in again, Vuniyayawa strolling over untouched after a lovely inside ball from Mata’afa.
Harris added the extras to extend the lead to 12-0.
York were in the mood and Sam Wood was the next to cross, stepping through some laboured defence on the right edge.
Harris couldn’t land this one from the sideline, with the score remaining at 16-0.
The home team was in complete control and continued to make metres through the middle with ease.
York lost Wood in the 25th minute for a head injury assessment.
The Knights’ fifth try came soon after, Oli Field with an excellent offload inside to put Denive Balmforth over.
Harris was unable to add the extras.
As expected, the fulltime outfit was proving fitter and stronger than their part-time opponents and Dee barged over right before halftime.
Harris’ kick was wide but York was dominant with a 24-0 buffer.
It took just two minutes into the second half for the Knights to touch down again, this time Josh Griffin scoring off a Hingano pass.
Paul McShane took over the kicking duties and nailed his first attempt.
Keighley were still battling on and got their reward in the 45th minute, Brad Holroyd diving over after a nice shift to the left flank.
Izaac Farrell wasn’t successful with his conversion attempt from the sideline.
Normal service quickly resumed with a swooping play to the right corner, ending with Ben Jones-Bishop grabbing a try.
This time McShane couldn’t add the extra two points.
A simple show and go was enough for Harris to get his second try of the day.
McShane nailed this one to extend it to 40-4.
With 14 minutes left Flanagan burrowed over from short range to secure Keighley’s second.
But the afternoon belonged to York, with Hingano, Vuniyayawa and Nikau Williams adding late tries, as they kept their Wembley dream alive.
YORK 56 (Harris 2 Viniyayawa 2 Wood Balmforth Griffin Jones-Bishop Hingano Williams tries Harris 5 McShane 2 Williams goals) beat KEIGHLEY 10 (Holroyd Flanagan snr tries Farrell goal) at LNER Stadium.