CROSS-CODE rugby relations in York appear to be on the up after York City Knights trained for the first time at York RUFC – with head coach James Ford hoping to take more sessions to the Clifton Park site.

The League One rugby league outfit, bereft of a ground and proper training base due to the controversial community stadium saga, used the rugby union club's Shipton Road headquarters last week – incredibly the first time all pre-season they have had the chance to stage a session on a full-sized grass pitch.

Ford - who partly blamed the defensive frailties in their 62-6 friendly defeat to Featherstone last weekend on having had little tackling practice on grass – described it as a “fantastic facility” and also praised the Yorkshire One amateur club's hospitality.

He said: “It’s a first-class site and the chairman and staff there were amazing – they were really helpful and made us really welcome.

“They seemed keen to have York City Knights down there and I’d be pleased to work with them again.”

The plan had been for the Knights to use York St John University as a permanent training base as part of the City of York Council’s community stadium project after their lease of Huntington Stadium was ended so it could be redeveloped to house both them and York City.

But a breakdown in relations between the council and club chairman John Guildford saw them ejected from the scheme and left homeless.

The squad have since had to hold ad hoc sessions, flitting between Manor School’s Astroturf pitch, partner club Castleford Tigers' indoor facilities and the St John site, and play friendlies outside of York.

It is hoped a new board of directors at the club can get the original plan back on track, but in the meantime Ford would be happy to go back to Clifton Park on a regular basis.

They nearly had a quick return after the union club agreed to stage the Knights' friendly against Castleford there on Sunday, only the Tigers could not rearrange their plans in time. The match had initially been scheduled for last Friday night at Wheldon Road but Cas called that one off to preserve their pitch for the start of Super League.

“It was actually Pat Smith (club captain) who mentioned going there,” said Ford of the Knights' session at Clifton Park.

“It’s a really good facility and hopefully we'll get to have more sessions there if that works out okay for everyone.

“We need some time on a grass field - doing defensive work on a field rather than being on Astroturf or in a wrestle room. We need time out there.

"We're very grateful for the facilities that have been made available to us, and, touch wood, for the last two blocks of pre-season, we will get access to facilities that are now more appropriate for the stage we're at."