YORK City Knights boss James Ford hailed the arrival of Lee Waterman as another big boost for his emerging squad after watching his side see off League One newcomers Coventry at Clifton Park.

The Bears had won two of their previous three league outings in their maiden season as a semi-pro outfit but Ford's men, with on-loan prop Micky Learmonth enjoying an encouraging debut off the bench, bagged five first-half tries without reply en route to a 42-10 win.

Victory was marred by injury to Kriss Brining - the in-form hooker broke a thumb not long after notching his ninth try in seven appearances this term - but, in better news, the club announced the signing of former fans favourite Waterman at half-time, the utility ace having quit Championship club Doncaster earlier this month.

Waterman was a Championship One leading points-scorer the last time he was at the Knights, with 25 tries and 102 goals in 27 appearances in the 2010 promotion season.

In total he notched 30 tries and 122 goals in 42 games for York, before leaving for the Dons at the end of the 2011 campaign and going on to score 61 tries in 81 outings for the Keepmoat club, including 36 when they won Championship One in 2012.

Said Ford: "I'm really pleased to bring Lee back to York. He's a popular guy in and around the club.

"He finds ways to put himself in space and put points on the board.

"He also brings versatility - he can play a number of positions which increases the competition for places."

Waterman's successes in 2010 came largely at centre, but he can also play full-back, wing and back-row. Asked if he was eyeing a specific role for the 27-year-old, Ford said: "Everyone's place is under threat."

Ford expects Brining to be out for four to six weeks - making the recent signing of Casey Canterbury all the more timely.

Canterbury was not included against Coventry as Ford picked Brining and Harry Carter as his hookers but will almost certainly make his debut at Swinton Lions next week.

Said the head coach: "Kriss has been outstanding for us. It's a big blow. But it will give Casey an opportunity. Hopefully Kriss can come back soon and press Casey and Harry for a shirt again."

As for Learmonth's debut, a highlight of which was a first-half tackle bust to set up a try for Carter, Ford said: "I thought Micky delivered just what we expected. I was excited we had the opportunity to sign him and he's done himself no harm with that performance.

"I thought everyone was pretty good. Josh Tonks was outstanding - he carried the ball with intent and got good ruck speed.

"Greg Minikin is getting back to his best - he's a handful on the edges. There was also a manful effort from Harry Carter. We lost Kriss early so Harry had to do big minutes and he did them well. That will help him to kick on."

Of the performance overall, Ford added: “I was pretty pleased, especially with the first half. We played a whole heap of football with lots of shape and movement, and our completion rate was pretty high.

“Credit to Coventry for a manful defensive effort - it would have been easy for them to submit but they dug in and made us work really hard for what we got.

"We controlled the ball well, pinned them in corners and dominated territory. Their coach, Tom Tsang, can be happy with the character their players showed.

“In the second half we were a bit flat and the game lost a bit of tempo.

"You can't always look at the officials to speed the game up. We have to look for ways to do it ourselves if they're not doing it. We did that towards the end of the half and got a couple of tries."