COACH Richard Agar had high praise for the hooking 'master and apprentice' in his York City Knights squad.

The old master, Lee Jackson, was forced off with his arm in a sling after 25 minutes of the Knights' 56-24 win at Gateshead yesterday, but his boots were fabulously filled by young apprentice Jim Elston, who switched from stand-off to score a hat-trick in a blistering individual performance.

Jackson suffered trapped nerves in his shoulder which affected the feel in his hands, but he is confident of being okay for next weekend's trip to Dewsbury Rams - Elston's former club.

That will be good news for Agar, whose plans to extract the best of both players for the good of the Knights should not be overly affected.

"What we always knew he can do is run - and he is rapid," said Agar of Elston. "He can frighten defences to death.

"He offers a different threat to Lee Jackson, who's a great footballer with great vision. Jim's not up there in that respect but he's rapid and he scares the big fellas around the ruck, and he's got the pace to carry it through and finish them off.

"I'm also finding with Jim that he's a player that wants to learn. He came to the club for the right reasons, he's great in the changing room, and he's improving every week with the things he's doing at dummy-half - and there's no better player to learn off than arguably the best hooker this country has had over the last decade or so."

Agar also lauded the display from Dan Briggs, who had his best game in a Knights shirt in what was his first appearance of the season in place of the retired Rich Hayes.

He said: "There were a couple of big positives for us - Chris Smith got plenty of game-time after his long lay-off, and he will get better with every game he plays, while Dan Briggs had an outstanding game at prop.

"He's done his chances no harm. He's not put a foot wrong and what he did do he did well."

Agar was "generally happy" with his side's display, but said they lacked a bit of ruthlessness.

"At 12-0 up early on we probably fell in love with ourselves a bit and we did not pay the ball enough respect or defend as we should have done. But we spoke to them at half-time and I was happy with our second-half defence, although we coughed them up a gift in the last five minutes.

"We lost a bit from not having a recognised stand-off (Nathan Graham and Damian Ball filled in when Elston went to hooker, while Scott Rhodes was out injured) and we were probably not as ruthless as we asked for before the game.

"But with 50 points, two disallowed tries and one or two missed chances, we're generally happy with our work, although the one or two soft tries at the other end was of concern to us.

"We're not happy with the 24 points conceded but we shouldn't do Gateshead Thunder an injustice because they've got smart half-backs and players who will play adventurous football, and if they keep improving they're probably in for a few better results."

Joining Jackson on the treatment table, meanwhile, were three-quarters Alex Godfrey and Aaron Wood, who both limped off in the second half but are both confident of being fit next week.

Godfrey suffered cramps in a leg, while Wood, who was playing his first game since major groin surgery in October, took a knock to the knee.

York RL Supporters' Club are having their annual general meeting in the Huntington Stadium bar tomorrow at 7.30pm. All fans are welcome, but only members can vote. The bar will be open.

The BBC has confirmed its Super League and National League coverage plans for the forthcom9ing season with the return of the Super League Show to the screens.

It will be shown on BBC's Northern regional services at 10.13am starting on Sunday, February 22.

"We are delighted to be embarking on a renwed partnership with the BBC. It is also tremendous news that the National League will be televised," said Rugby Football League Executive Chairman Richard Lewis.

Updated: 10:39 Monday, February 16, 2004