YORK Acorn ARLC boss Scott Rhodes hailed his team after they came from behind to beat Shaw Cross Sharks and book a place in the National Conference League division one play-off final.

As reported by The Press, a late Jake Calam try snatched victory for the Blue and Golds after they had fought back from 14-0 down early on and, in the second half, from 22-14 behind.

They had gone into the tie as underdogs, given they finished below Shaw Cross in the table and given their poor record on the road all year.

Head coach Rhodes said: "We were 14-0 down and we looked as though we were struggling, but the lads showed a lot of character to get back into the game. Even to get to 14-14 at half-time, we did very very well.

"There was a lot of determination in there, and will to win - they wanted it so bad.

"I can't praise them enough. I'm just really really proud of what they did."

Acorn will meet Normanton in the final at Widnes on Sunday - when they will again be underdogs.

"I knew they'd win their semi-final (against Ince Rose Bridge)," said Rhodes. "They beat us home and away but they were games we could have won. Normanton are beatable."

Acorn have been trying - so far unsuccessfully - to find an artificial "4g" surface to train on this week similar to that at Widnes' ground.

The Acorn club also have a firework display planned for Thursday night at their Thanet Road base when the team would normally train.

"We'll work around all that," added Rhodes.