DOMINANT and emphatic were how coach Richard Agar described yesterday's 48-12 win. He wasn't exaggerating.

York City Knights overwhelmed Swinton with a performance full of purpose, poise and power, verve, vigour and valour.

It was the kind of display that showed the supremacy the Knights have over their National League Two rivals should they play anywhere near their potential.

In-form Swinton, were arguably the hardest test the Knights had left in the regular season and had ability across the board.

However, Agar's men put aside a worrying opening to hit back with confidence, composure and coolness, speed, strength and, ultimately, a sackful of scores, the result lifting them to second in the table.

Fans haven't been quite sure what to expect in recent weeks, but the travelling faithful need not have had any apprehension yesterday, at least not until the Knights cut loose in the second half.

There were a few fears when Swinton went ahead via a superb converted try finished wonderfully by pace ace Wayne English.

Two pieces of obstruction - one which was missed by the referee, the other seen - then helped put the Lions further in the driving seat

The first by a Swinton player helped put his team-mate, Rob Russell, into a gap and that attack ended when York hooker Jim Elston effected the second, obstructing Paul Ashton as he chased his own grubber.

Elston was sin-binned and Ashton booted the two-pointer.

However, York dug in and, with fit-again Lee Jackson entering the fray, took control.

A Swinton error on the restart - there was a few of those - gave York a scrum on the ten-yard line, and centre Chris Langley, who gave his best performance for some time, used all his power to dig over, Danny Brough goaling.

Ashton responded with another penalty for a swinging arm, but opposing scrum-half Brough was to add to his own points tally in style to put York ahead for the first time shortly after Elston's re-entry.

Brough - whose kicking game and all-round play was much improved - showed great hands with a long miss-pass to Darren Callaghan and when the second-row looped a brave pass inside out of the back of the hand, Brough leapt to catch it, throw a dummy, touch down and convert.

Swinton levelled with a penalty, but that was where the home scoring ended.

York went back upfield, and though Langley was this time held short by four defenders, they were still to score via a Brough penalty awarded when Lions second-row Rob Russell obstructed the scrum-half when he chased his own grubber.

Russell was yellow-carded and could have been joined in the bin by Ashton after he appeared to tackle the rampaging John Smith with an elbow in the throat.

York were probably worth more than their two-point half-time lead but if there were doubts over the eventual outcome, they soon dissipated.

Elston was denied by English but the home full-back was powerless to prevent the Knights going on a second-half scoring fest as their dominance was turned into points, while the hosts, badly missing suspended hooker Peter Cannon, struggled with discipline, frustration and tiredness against a side unwilling to give an inch.

Brough's brilliance was at the heart of the next two tries. His interception and race upfield gave speedster Austin Buchanan a touchdown, then after Mark Cain's fine break appeared to have been wasted when a pass went astray, Brough cleaned things up and sent Craig Farrell in.

Russell complained the grounding was not good - he probably had a point - but the try stood and Russell returned to the sin-bin.

Brough added a holding down penalty on the hour and, if it wasn't game over then, it was when Jackson saw the chance from dummy-half and majestically strolled over.

Jackson soon had a second when getting on the end of fleet-footed Buchanan's superb break, and when English could not deal with Jackson's up and under, Cain took charge and successfully went for the line.

The scoreline could have been bigger as a couple of chances were bombed, while Buchanan had a try ruled out for a forward pass.

But that won't affect the confidence gleaned from this wonderful win, which was completed when Chris Spurr and Farrell combined magnificently to set up the field position for John Smith's second try in two games, Brough adding his sixth conversion of the day.

Lions: English, Thorpe, Llewellyn, Maye, Irwin, Coates, Ashton, Sinfield, Ayres, Rogers, Gardner, Russell, Hudson. Subs (all used): Roach, Patel, Wingfield, Whittaker.

Tries: English 3

Cons: Ashton 3

Penalties: Ashton 10, 15, 31.

Drop goals: None.

Sin-binned: Russell 35, 52.

Sent off: None.

Knights: C Smith 6, Buchanan 7, Langley 9, Spurr 7, Farrell 7, Rhodes 7, Brough 9, Wilson 8, Elston 9, Sullivan 8, Ramsden 7, Callaghan 8, Friend 6. Subs (all used): Jackson 8, Cain 7, J Smith 8, Forsyth 7.

Tries: Langley 13; Brough 22; Buchanan 46; Farrell 52; Jackson 63, 67; Cain 75; J Smith 78.

Cons: Brough 13, 22, 46, 63, 75, 78.

Pens: Brough 35, 60

Sin-binned: Elston 10

Sent off: None.

Man of the match:

Danny Brough - at the heart of many Knights' tries and bounced back to form with an all-round superb display and a personal tally of 20 points.

HT: 12-14

Referee: Ben Thaler (Wakefield)

Rating: Not an easy job yesterday but, apart from a couple of things missed, he handled it reasonably well.

Penalty count: 15-11

Gamebreaker: Not any of the second-half tries, but the way the Knights put aside Swinton's early scores to go ahead through Danny Brough in the first half. If heads had dropped, the match could well have been lost.

Attendance: 742.

Weather watch: Dry and warm

Match rating: It looked like being a tense affair until the Knights cut loose after the break to underline their dominance. Good stuff.

Updated: 10:14 Monday, August 16, 2004