HEAD coach James Ford hailed hat-trick hero Liam Cunningham after York City Knights surged into the fifth round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup – and not just for his efforts on the field.

Cunningham completed his treble in the last minute of Friday night’s 58-8 win over amateurs Featherstone Lions to seal a satisfactory night all round.

But Ford was also quick to laud the 25-year-old’s unstinting positivity off the field too, in the wake of the adversity and uncertainty caused by the ongoing homelessness and community stadium saga, with the team’s training programme again hit this week in the build-up to the banana skin tie.

“Liam is a quality player and a quality person as well – he gives us really good leadership,” said Ford of his recruit from Doncaster, who started the game at centre but later switched to the wing.

“We’re coming up against a bit of adversity and people like Liam are really important to us.

“It’s easy to stay positive when things are going well on and off the field.

“Things are going well on the field but not quite as I would like off the field, and people like Liam are important to the camp.”

Ford was generally happy with his side’s performance, especially defensively as they showed no complacency against the National Conference League minnows – notwithstanding the two second-half tries deservedly bagged by the home team in front of a passionate crowd.

“There were some ferocious contacts defensively and the structure was generally good so hats off to the boys for that,” he said.

“I thought Featherstone Lions threw some shape at us and some unusual patterns, and they challenged us mentally and physically.

“With the ball, things are progressing, and I thought we got closer to where we want to be.

“That last try (by Cunningham after a good team move) showed our standards.

“Given we’ve missed out on the training field, we needed to have the ball in our hands to build fluidity, which I think is just around the corner.”

It took 14 minutes for the first try to arrive, with the team ending with ten in all. Ford added: “We started the game well and generally had control and dominated territorially.

“It was only a matter of time before we got over the line. The pleasing thing was we continued to apply pressure and grind away and we gained quite a lot on the scoreboard by half-time.

“I knew the Lions would be a test. I played down here and I knew what kind of support they would have.

“I thought it was a good opportunity for our young players to learn playing in a moderately aggressive environment among the Featherstone locals.”

Asked whom he would like to draw in Tuesday night’s fifth round, when four Super League clubs – Wakefield, Salford and the two Hull big-guns – join the 12 winners from this weekend, Ford said: “It’s whatever comes out of the hat, but I’m sure John Guildford (chairman) is hoping for Hull FC or Hull KR, away from home probably.”