HEAD coach James Ford dedicated York City Knights’ iPro Sport Cup semi-final success to the team’s supporters – and with a nod to the troubled football neighbours said he wanted to give the city a “team to be proud of”.

The Knights as expected saw off Gloucestershire All Golds at Bootham Crescent to send York RL into its first knockout cup final since the Yorkshire Cup of 1978.

They will now meet Keighley in the showdown during the Championship’s Summer Bash in Blackpool on May 28 – when victory would give York their first piece of KO silverware since the Yorkshire Cup final of 1936.

The iPro Cup is a minor competition in comparison, played for by third tier teams only, but Ford said: “Whatever cup it is does not matter.

“What matters is that we’ve made the final of one of the competitions we’ve set out to win and we’ve given ourselves a chance of achieving one of our goals.

“We want to give the city a team to be proud of, a team that never stops playing, that is together as a group, and that’s got mental strength, character and backbone – all of the things good teams have.

“I hope the sport fans of the city can see that and that they feel part of our group. We look forward to enjoying Blackpool with them.”

The Knights took an early lead and, after Gloucestershire fought back to level, took control again with three tries in seven minutes before half-time. It turned into a romp late on with five tries in the last 15 minutes as the All Golds faded.

Said Ford: “I’m really pleased to win and progress.

“It gives the players an opportunity to experience a final and I’m pleased for the club to reach a final after some tough times.

“Most of all I’m chuffed to bits for the supporters. It’s been a difficult club to support over the last couple of years with what’s happened off the field.

“Hopefully there will be some proud supporters going into work after the Bank Holiday.”

He added: “There was a ten or 15-minute period when Gloucestershire were the better team. It came from our indiscipline and individual errors, and our contacts were off. They’re not a bad team. For 50 minutes it was a close game.

“We need to make sure our concentration is up there for longer. We were in control but we let Gloucestershire back into the game. They had the momentum but we were good enough and strong enough to regain it back. Those tries we got before half-time put us back in control.”

Ford insisted he was never unduly concerned, even when the All Golds threatened to take the lead.

“In a game of rugby league, in a semi-final, you’re not going to have control and momentum for all 80 minutes,” he said.

“I knew Gloucestershire would get momentum at some point – they’ve got some good players and a good coach – and they were the better team for 20 minutes in that first half.

“We made errors and they took advantage. It took a mentally strong team to get that ascendancy back.”

Ford’s men beat League One promotion rivals Keighley 20-12 in the Challenge Cup in March, but Ford reckons that will count for nothing in Blackpool.

“We played them early in the season. We were excellent in the first half but not crash hot in the second.

“But that game will be irrelevant by the time of the final.

“Keighley have a number of really experienced players and (head coach) Paul March will be looking to them on that day.

“But we have some players here who can potentially be fantastic and it will be great for them to experience a cup final occasion like that.”