IT has proved to be a wonderful weekend for York City Knights.

They saw an improving Sheffield side turn over title contenders Workington on Saturday and then yesterday they fought off London Skolars to win 32-14 in front of a record New River Stadium crowd.

On top of that they heard that Swinton had surprisingly lost at home to lowly Gateshead, leaving only Dewsbury within two points of them at the top.

The Knights' performance probably wasn't the most stunning among that lot - and certainly not as spectacular as that by portly comedy star Matt Lucas who, with David Walliams, filmed a sketch for their hit TV show Little Britain before kick-off - but the win was as hard-earned as it was important.

York had enjoyed big victories at New River on both previous visits, but there was no such ease this time against a side whose low league position belied their apparent improvement.

The Skolars were nothing if not dogged and it needed a big effort from the Knights' pack to glean ascendancy. Usual suspects Adam Sullivan and John Smith more than held their own up front, while all the back-rowers worked their socks off, but the impact off the bench of props Yusuf Sozi and David Bates kept the visitors on the front foot perhaps more than anything, albeit that their stints were comparatively short.

Nonetheless, the Knights - with 'tinkerman' boss Mick Cook keeping the same starting 13 for only the second time this season - were already on the front foot by the time the big duo hit the scene running, and getting that early advantage was more important than it seemed at the time.

Paceman Peter Fox got on the end of Mick Ramsden's clever angled grubber and the club's leading scorer soon doubled his tally, though this try was all about Dan Potter, who beat man after man down the right before passing past the full-back.

Ten points in ten minutes had been scored but expectations of another try-fest didn't last long.

Indeed, the visitors had to defend particularly stoically when the Skolars benefited from a penalty to have six tackles inside the visitors' ten. Ironically, it was only with the danger over that the hosts scored, when a throw-before-you-look Lee Lingard pass fell to grateful home hands and winger Ryan Wheele finished a fine 60-metre move.

One-way traffic it wasn't, but Mick Cook's men did regain the upper hand and justly scored again.

A high tackle, and possible elbow use, on Darren Callaghan went unpunished - well, it went on report in a ridiculous cop-out by the ref - and prompted some pushing and shoving, but the Knights got their revenge when a fired-up Sullivan fought his way over.

Callaghan, meanwhile, showed admirable restraint thereafter - not something he's famed for - as the Knights' discipline was altogether excellent.

Fine defence forced a turnover in the home 20 and David Bates showed a decent sidestep to break in, but still there was no runaway as the Skolars pulled it back to 22-10 at the break, perhaps with a bit of deserved luck, when Nathan Meischke nipped in to score, despite question marks over the grounding.

The first score after half-time was also probably important, and York got it.

Neil Law isn't as high in the scoring charts as he'd like but he has set up his fair share and did so again with an around-the-defender pass for Lingard to put more daylight between the teams.

Still the Knights never looked like cutting loose, despite some enterprising lines in attack, but nor did they ever look in danger of being caught and after a cat-and-mouse 20 minutes the points were in the bag when Chris Levy's switch pass was finished by Blaymire, jinking over for a touchdown Matt Lucas would have been proud of.

Three-goal Paul Thorman, less effective than of late, had been substituted injured by then, so Lee Lingard booted this conversion and, although Rubert Jonker soon blasted over at the other end, the game was won.

York-based Dean Thomas helped to do his home town team a huge favour yesterday as his Gateshead team beat second-placed Swinton 57-32 at the Lions' Park Lane ground, a record score for Thunder. Full-back Wade Liddell led the way with a hat-trick.

Knights: Blaymire 7, Lingard 6, Potter 7, Law 7, Fox 7, Levy 7, P Thorman 6, Smith 7, Jackson 6, Sullivan 7, Ramsden 7, Kirke 7, Paterson 7. Subs (all used): Elston 7, Callaghan 7, Bates 8, Sozi 8.

Tries: Fox 6, 10; Sullivan 26; Bates 35; Lingard 47; Blaymire 67.

Conversions: P Thorman 10, 26, 35; Lingard 67. Penalties: None. Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

London Skolars: T Gee, Wheele, Price, Joyce, Simms, Coleman, Meischke, Hall, Honor, Barker, Jonker, Lane, Blaker. Subs (all used): Pittman, Smits, Aderiye, N Gee.

Tries: Wheele 17; Meischke 39; Jonker 71. Conversions: T Gee 39. Penalties: None. Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: None.

Sent off: None.

Man of the match:

David Bates - both he and Yusuf Sozi made good impacts off the bench, both punching holes, while Bates got a few decent off-loads out.

Referee: Robert Hicks (Oldham). Rating: Just days after Mick Cook had called for a clampdown on high tackles, Hicks left unpunished what looked like a blatant head shot on Darren Callaghan. Bit iffy once or twice but otherwise kept control.

Penalty count: 6-8.

HT: 22-10.

Gamebreaker: The first try after half-time, by Lee Lingard, was crucial, but the next, by Matt Blaymire after a scoreless 20 minutes, made sure of the win.

Attendance: 1,018

Weather watch: nippy in a deceptive breeze.

Match rating: Solid, tough and hotly-fought, if not spectacular.

Updated: 10:35 Monday, June 13, 2005