YORK City Knights’ decision to axe Gary Thornton came just 18 hours after his side were knocked out of the Championship One promotion play-offs by arch-rivals Hunslet – whom they had beaten three times in the regular season.

The Knights also lost in the play-offs to Oldham, who meet the Hawks in Sunday’s Grand Final at Headingley.

Last year, in Thornton’s first year in charge, the team had their most successful season in the Championship since being promoted in 2010, bagging six league wins including a shock defeat of title hopefuls Featherstone.

But they still went down after ending the campaign with an 11-match losing streak.

This year, the former Batley boss and Castleford academy coach was tasked with getting the team straight back up into the restructured Championship division and they lost only three league games in the regular season, winning the other 17 - including a Knights record ten on the trot - to finish top of Championship One by five points.

A shock loss to lowly Oxford was their only home defeat – until the play-offs, and it is only the play-off winners this year that go up.

His record overall as York boss reads 26 victories and 28 defeats.

Thornton’s last task as Knights boss is to attend the Championships awards dinner tomorrow night in Manchester, where he is shortlisted as Championship One Coach of the Year.

Thornton has also seen a record seven of his players named in the league’s Team of the Year – Ben Reynolds, Pat Smith, Jack Lee, Colton Roche, James Saltonstall, Jack Aldous and Ben Dent.

Reynolds, Lee and Smith are also in the running for Player of the Year, with Reynolds and Saltonstall shortlisted for Young Player of the Year.