YORK City Knights boss James Ford praised a “very professional” performance after watching his side grind out a 31-4 victory at North Wales Crusaders to hit the half-way point of the season on a high.

Betfred League One leaders Bradford Bulls eked out a 27-20 victory at Whitehaven to stay clear at the top after 13 of 26 rounds, but York remain second just two points adrift.

And Ford said this latest victory – their 11th of the league campaign - was about unrelenting pressure both with and without the ball.

“It was very professional,” he said of his team’s display. “North Wales showed plenty of resilience to defend against us, but in large we stuck to our processes and built pressure and that paid dividends.

“There was a patch when we went away from that and made things up on the run a little bit but that’s part of our learning.

“Good teams can defend. We’ve got to keep asking questions and maybe slightly tweak them, but we don’t need to make things up.

“We’re improving. We’re in a good spot at the minute and the mentality is we want to be better, and that will do for me.”

Ford dismissed talk in the build-up that Crusaders were becoming a bogey side for York, and his players backed up that belief by ultimately overpowering their hosts, notching two first-half tries and three more around the hour-mark before the Welsh outfit bagged a late consolation.

The Knights had tweaked their normal game plan, too, to take into account a narrow Queensway pitch, whereby they sought to go through and over their opponents rather than around them.

“It was how we expected,” said Ford. “It’s a tight field and they’re a well-coached side. We knew we had to invest a lot in the first 30 minutes to take away their energy levels and get reward later on in the game.

“We knew if we dropped off, North Wales would be good enough to punish us. I was pleased with our mentality.”

As for York’s attacks, Ford explained: “We wanted to be more direct, test inside shoulders and react to wins (in rucks), and look to numbers on short sides. Defending big side shifts on a narrow field is much easier.”

Crusaders made more of the errors in the first half particularly.

Ford said: “That comes on the back of us kicking the ball in the right places, making them come out of unpleasant areas, and having the right mentality towards defence and contacts.

“A lot is based on what we call ‘Trap 40s’ (forcing an error or making opponents kick from inside their own 40-metre zone) – that’s a real indicator of a side that’s dominant over the other team.”

Winger Ash Robson, who opened the scoring in the first half, departed during the second after a clash of heads with team-mate Harry Carter in a tackle.

Carter and Adam Robinson also suffered ankle injuries, but Ford is hopeful all three will be fit for next Sunday's trip to Keighley Cougars.