YORK boss Mark Applegarth hailed captain Liam Harris as “one of the best players in the Championship” after his Man of the Match performance against Featherstone Rovers secured a coveted home Play-off Eliminator. The half-back scored twice and fashioned a stunning Joe Brown try on the stroke of half time as the Knights earned a hard-fought 16-6 victory, their first over the West Yorkshire club at the LNER Community Stadium. York will now host Widnes Vikings next Saturday (3pm) for a place in the Play-off Semi-Finals.
Billed as a top six shootout, the match was in every inch a play-off, displaying an intensity that left the healthy home crowd unable to tear their eyes away from the pitch. But despite their defeat, remarkably, Featherstone have still crept into the play-offs, beating Sheffield Eagles on points difference following their shock defeat at relegated Dewsbury Rams. Harris was the obvious Man of the Match candidate, though there were notable performances from hooker Josh Daley, who will return to his native Australia upon the season’s conclusion, and ever-industrious forward Jordan Thompson, who was relentless in the centre of the field.
Lauding his captain, a beaming Applegarth admitted: “Liam is one of the best players in this league. “I think what you’ll find is that Featherstone had done a lot of homework on Ata [Hingano] and that freed up some space for Liam to do what he did there. “Liam showed the smartness to understand that - he is one of the b.