OVERJOYED York City Knights chairman Roger Dixon could not contain his delight following the Knights' first-ever match yesterday.

York lost the Arriva Trains Cup group tie 36-26 to Hull Kingston Rovers but the occasion was deemed a major success on and off the pitch as the biggest crowd Huntington Stadium had seen in years - officially given as 3,105 through the turnstiles - enjoyed the 11-try thriller.

Hull KR won the game thanks to three tries in the last ten minutes, but the York players received a standing ovation at the end for running the Robins close despite not having played any warm-up matches.

"We played absolutely marvellously and the atmosphere was wonderful," Dixon told the Evening Press.

"Who would have thought we would have put up such a fight against a National League One club like Hull KR.

"It was a performance the city can be proud of and was a great testament to the players, coach and everybody connected to the club both on and off the pitch."

Knights majority shareholder John Guildford was also elated. "It was a dream come true," he declared.

"We're really pleased with the turn-out from the fans and hopefully it will continue for the rest of the season."

Player-coach Paul Broadbent was also delighted with the support. "The crowd were brilliant," he said.

"It's nice to see the people in the city supporting what we're trying to do. I hope we can get sorted so we can be winning on a regular basis and give them something more to cheer."

The performance of the Knights against the NL1 big-guns bodes well for a promotion push in NL2 when that campaign gets underway in April. But Broadbent was also wanting to do well in the Arriva Trains Cup.

"My main aim is to get a team that's competitive no matter who we're playing," he said.

"We're a bit disappointed because I think we did enough to win the game. I felt for the guys because they put a lot into it.

"Our lack of discipline in the first half kept them in it and in the second half we took a few wrong options. At the outset in the second half we came up with two errors and that gave Rovers the forward step they needed.

"But there are some really pleasing things and many positives to come out of it.

"We got ourselves in try-scoring positions but got stopped short. On a different day those things turn out better.

"I was happy with the shape the players kept. Apart from the errors, a lot of what we've been doing in training was put into the game.

"I always said the first game would be patchy. We played some good stuff but then it drifted away at times."

As for the refereeing decisions which contributed to two late Rovers tries, Broadbent refused to be critical. "There's never going to be a game when you can say every decision the referee made was right," he said.

"As the season goes on we will get decisions for us and some against us, and we've no complaints."

He added: "Overall it was a good outing and it sets a benchmark and something we can build on."

Updated: 13:31 Monday, January 20, 2003