HEAD coach James Ford bemoaned the spectacle at Mountain Ash but was happy enough with his York City Knights team as they returned from their 12-hour round trip with a 64-0 scoreline.

It was the second time the Knights had nilled League One strugglers South Wales Scorpions this season following the 70-0 win in an on-the-road home match in Featherstone, and it saw them rise to second in the table, for 24 hours at least, until Keighley leapfrogged them with a 28-10 win over Newcastle.

The 11-try romp was also a fitting way to mark the club's community stadium agreement which finally ends homelessness and provides a huge fillip for the run-in.

However, it was marred late on by three yellow cards – two for the Scorpions and one for York’s Ed Smith, the latter for retaliation in a fracas. And Ford said he was surprised it took so long to spill over given the frustrating niggling and fouling which saw the Scorpions concede 15 penalties and receive warnings from referee Tom Grant for persistent offending.

“It was scratchy,” said the head coach when asked about the performance as a whole.

“We achieved one of the goals in keeping South Wales to nil, and to do that against any team is fantastic.

“But the game generally was very slow with penalties in and around the ruck and general interference which does not make for an attractive spectacle.

“If they want my advice to get more supporters in down here (in a rugby league expansion area) I would say speed the game up and make it more attractive. That’s how they would sell the game to more people.

“We were disciplined in putting up with all the rubbish in and around there, and the referee has to look at his role in there as well.

“We made five errors from play-the-balls. We’re professional rugby league players who know how to play the ball, so how come there were five errors? The referee knew there were things going on in the ruck as he was penalising them for it.

“Ed Smith got involved with somebody – Eddie doesn’t mess about – but I was surprised it took that long (to spill over into a fracas) to be honest, as people’s frustrations all around the ground were growing.”

He added: “South Wales actually defended us quite well – I was impressed with their shape. I know we’ve scored 64 points but there were positive signs for them.”

Ford had made five changes to the side that beat Newcastle in last week’s super show, leaving Jack Aldous, Jordan Howden, Josh Tonks and Micky Learmonth at home, while dual-reg ace Michael Channing was also not involved.

Of the incomers, new loan signing Brad Hey, made his debut off the bench, superbly setting up a try for Greg Minikin after breaking through from near halfway.

Ford said: “I thought Brad showed positive glimpses. He created a good try really well and he carried the ball reasonably well.

“Obviously he’s new to our systems and he’s got some ground to make up but he’s highlighted his potential and he should be pleased with his contribution.”

The Knights, meanwhile, had a new conditioner involved for the first time on Saturday.

Mark Helme, who has formerly worked with Castleford Tigers, Wakefied Wildcats and England Colleges footballers, effectively takes over from Jamie Bell, who has now gone full-time with Castleford.

Helme, 36, is currently head conditioner at Wakefield College’s highly-regarded sports department.

Ford, himself a tutor at Wakefied College, said: “Jamie Bell was really good but can no longer commit the time we need because of his increasing work with Cas. We wish him all the best obviously.

“I know Mark Helme really well and his knowledge is second to none.

“His programmes are outstanding and I’m sure he will really help the young up-and-coming players we’ve got to improve physically.”