The NSW Cup Knights ran out 32-22 winners against the Mounties at Hunter Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
After the Canberra Raiders feeder club came from behind late to beat the Knights 24-22 in Round 5, the men in red and blue were clearly intent on getting a win this time around.
Considering the Mounties are joint leaders in the NSW Cup, it was an impressive performance from the Knights after a haphazard showing against the Warriors last week.
Former Cessnock Goannas winger Kerrod Holland was undoubtedly a highlight for the Knights as he scored a hat-trick of tries and nailed four of his six conversions.
Forward James Taylor was forced from the field in the 1st minute with concussion but that didn't dent the Knights' confidence as Chanel Mata'utia crossed over in the 3rd minute with multiple defenders hanging on.
Kerrod Holland's attempted conversion was waved away, but four minutes later Chad Redman scored when he feinted his way over from dummy-half. Holland made no mistakes with his his kick this time, pushing the score to 10-0.
Five minutes later Mounties fullback Mitch Cronin dropped a bomb and opposite number Jake Mamo took full advantage with a try in the Knights' next set. Redman stepped up to the tee this time to push the score to 16-0.
It wasn't until the 22nd minute of the game that the Mounties staged their first attacking foray of the game. It paid off for them as centre Jeremy Hawkins caught the Knights' left side defence napping to score. Mitch Cornish did well to convert from the sideline, pushing the score to 16-6.
The Knights' restart went dead and suddenly the Mounties had another opportunity as they started their set from the halfway line.
Their right edge combined well again, Hawkins offloading for winger Bill Tupou to score. Cornish was unable to replicate his kicking heroics from out wide, leaving the score at 16-10.
The Knights were next to score, this time Holland finishing off a neat play down the right side orchestrated by Jaelen Feeney and Mamo. Holland added the extras to his own try, pushing the score to 22-10 with 30 minutes played.
The tries continued in the second half when Holland made a line break to run 80 metres and score his in the 49th minute.
He again added the extras to his own try and rounded out his hat-trick two minutes later when Joe Tapine pried open the Mounties defence and made an offload.
The next flashpoint came in the 54th minute when Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Kyle O'Donnell were both sin-binned for an altercation.
It didn't take long for the Mounties to score after that as five-eighth Josh McCrone dived over right of the uprights. Cornish kicked well to push the score to 32-16.
The Mounties were at it again five minutes later as centre Pat Mataele finished off a 70 metre set and Cornish again converted.
The Knights steadied themselves from there and closed out the game to win 32-22.
