The left side pairing of second rower Michael Knowles and centre Menzie Yere produced five of the Eagles' eight tries as Mark Aston's men ran riot in the second half of their game against a resurgent York team.

The Knights kept the score tight in the first period, heading into the break with just a two point deficit, but were thoroughly outclassed in the second half by a Sheffield outfit who, despite going down to 12 men for the last 15 minutes of the game after Mitchell Stringer was dismissed for an alleged headbutt, never took their foot off the gas.

Dominic Brambani started the game as the only recognised half-back for the Eagles, and kicked off a superb performance with an early try.  It was his spiralling bomb that caused confusion in the Knights ranks as the ball was allowed to bounce before ricocheting back into the arms of a Sheffield player for six more tackles.  It didn't take long for the home side to capitalise, and it was Brambani's jinking run that was too much for York as he dived under the posts.  Brambani then went on to convert his own try.

The Eagles thought they had pulled further in front when Scott Turner grounded a cute grubber kick from Quentin Laulu-Togagae, but the touch judge adjudged the winger to have placed his foot into touch, and this proved to be the wake-up call York needed to get themselves on the scoreboard.  Hooker Jack Lee made the break down the left hand side of the field and showed some fancy footwork to evade the clutches of the Sheffield defenders and give former Eagle James Ford a walk-in.  Chris Thorman was un-successful with his first conversion attempt, on the week that he announced he would be departing the York club at the end of the season.

The hosts were again disappointed shortly afterwards as winger Nev Morrison was held up on the last tackle, but they didn't have to wait too long to extend their lead with arguably the try of the game.  Yere broke the line fully 60 metres away from the try line, and sprinted away where he was met by Knights full back Jordan Tansey.  The big Eagles centre had Turner on his left and Laulu-Togagae on his right in support, but opted to throw the dummy and back himself to score the try, which seemed to be the wrong decision when Tansey caught him ten metres short, but Yere had the momentum to get close enough to the line to stretch out and plonk the ball down.  Brambani added the extras.

York wouldn't go away though, and late pressure eventually bore fruit on the stroke of half time.  Misi Taulapapa thought he had preserved the Eagles' eight point advantage going into the break with a try-saving tackle on Ford, but the Knights were un-deterred, and after being held up on two consecutive tackles earlier in the set, they eventually got the ball down through Brett Turner who scooted from dummy half to close the gap.  Thorman was this time on target with the conversion, but it would be the last attempt he would have at goal all night due to a monumental second half defensive display from Sheffield.

Early indiscipline was the downfall of Thorman's troops in the second half, as the Eagles were allowed to make easy ground on the back of a penalty.  This gave them the field position to utilise their many strike options, and the ball was shipped left to Yere who stepped inside and trundled over the line for his second of the evening.  Brambani added the extra two points.

It was the forwards who were laying the foundations for the Eagles, making good, hard yards up the centre of the field against a seemingly wilting Knights rearguard, and Stringer was allowed to break free and offload to Brambani who made the break for the next try, finding support from Michael Knowles who raced over to score his first of the game.  Brambani was off target for the first time with his conversion attempt, pushing it in front of the posts.

The Sheffield scrum-half didn't let his head drop though, and was right back in the thick of it for the next score.  A high, swirling kick was always going to prove a tough task for York winger Waine Pryce to deal with, and this task was further magnified when Turner charged towards him and challenged him in the air, before flicking the ball back for Knowles to score his second try in as many minutes.  Brambani was back in the swing of things, converting from wide out on the left.

Knights second rower John Davies must have been wondering just what he had to do to score after being held up over the try line for the third time in the game, and from the resulting play-the-ball ten metres out, Tansey's grubber kick was collected by Laulu-Togagae under his own posts and the Samoan sprinted the full length of the field to register his 100th point of a sensational campaign with his 25th try.  Brambani converted from in front of the posts.

It was then that Stringer received his marching orders in somewhat innocuous circumstances, but the Eagles carried on regardless and still had time to cross the whitewash on another two occasions.  Firstly Laulu-Togagae doubled his tally after a neat offload from Knowles, then Yere capped a man of the match performance on the stroke of full-time by completing his hat-trick in trademark circumstances.  Brambani converted Laulu-Togagae's try but missed with his final attempt to make the final score Sheffield Eagles 44-10 York City Knights.

Eagles: Laulu-Togagae, Turner, Yere, Taulapapa, Morrison, Smith, Brambani, Howieson, Henderson, Stringer, Knowles, Green, Hirst.  Replacements: Davey, Scott, Szostak, Higgins.

Knights: Tansey, Pryce, Ford, Garside, Elliott, Thorman, Nicklas, Sullivan, Lee, Aldas, Clarke, Davies, King.  Replacements: Turner, Smith, Freer, Green.

Attendance: 747