THE Jorvik Warrior Jamie Warters signalled his intentions to push on towards a shot at the British cruiserweight title last night with a comfortable points victory over Darren Ashton at Willerby Manor.

Warters fight plans had been turned upside down just 24 hours before the contest when his scheduled opponent, the tough Birmingham brawler Michael Pinnock, pulled out with a neck injury, leaving Ashton to step in.

The vastly experienced Stoke-based boxer was in training to fight the Warrior on April 17 at the KC Stadium and was more than ready to bring that bout forward.

However, Warters put aside the fact he knew little about his new opponent and showed he is beginning to rediscover the punching power and cutting combinations that made him such a threat as an amateur.

Although referee Chris Kelly only had Warters as a 60-57 victor, the Warriors was always in control and it was Ashton who left the ring with a nasty cut to the right eye and bleeding from the mouth.

There is little chance for Warters to bask in his first success since returning to the ring after a two-year absence, with the York fighter back in the gym today to prepare for his next fight in a fortnight against Pinnock, should he be clear to fight after his neck injury.

Trainer/manager Steve Pollard had asked for a reaction from Warters after his defeat in November by Tony Booth and he certainly got it.

He said: "Overall, it was good performance, it was the performance I was looking for and sets Jamie up well for a fortnights time at the KC Arena.

"I believe he can be the British champion and more importantly so does he, so things are back on schedule for what we want."

Warters reiterated his title ambitions after the fight. He said: "I feel good to be back into it with a win, but I still have got a lot of to do. He was a durable kid and don't forget it was a late change of opponents and that threw me psychologically as I didn't know anything about him... I didn't even know what he looked like!"

Roared on by a fervent travelling support from York, Warters made a solid start as he attempted to work out Ashton's style.

Throughout the contest, Ashton was forced back onto the ropes to avoid some heavy punches to the head and body as Warters produced a strong, positive display.

A clubbing left to the head in the second caused a cut in Ashton's mouth to open up, while a screwed right uppercut to the body followed by a short left to the head split open the eye of the challenger in the fourth.

But Warters hopes of finishing the bout were frustrated as Ashton, who constantly led with his head, shut up shop and was content to live off the scraps of the odd counter combinations.

Updated: 12:01 Friday, April 04, 2003