Week of woe banished by the high life

9:17am Monday 14th July 2008

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A WEEK of disruption ended on a high for York City Knights – and it might get even better as club captain Scott Rhodes is eyeing a shock return to action.

The Knights racked up their biggest win for more than two years yesterday by thrashing Blackpool 62-6, a result which came after a week of controversy in which top try-scorer Lee Mapals was placed on the transfer list at his own request.

And now forgotten man Rhodes, who was expected to be out for the season, is hopeful a second opinion on the shoulder problem that has ruled him out since March will bring further cheer.

If he gets the go-ahead to resume training, it would give the Knights much-needed strength in depth at half-back, and provide another boost for the vital run-in following Adam Mitchell’s eye-catching debut in the number six shirt.

Rhodes said: “I didn’t have any power in my left arm, but I’m not being troubled by it any more. The shoulder feels fine now, and it’s felt fine in the gym. There’s no pain, so I’m going to get it checked out again and see what they say. Obviously I hope they say it’s okay and I can play again soon.”

Fellow stand-off Mitchell – who replaced Danny Grice, who is unavailable for three weeks – had in hand in several tries and kicked nine goals as the Knights ended a three-game losing run in National League Two by recording their biggest win since a 62-0 victory at Oldham in June 2006.

Knights assistant-coach James Ratcliffe was delighted with the 26-year-old former Keighley half-back’s contribution alongside scrum-half Paul March, the player-boss, in what he described as a very good team performance.

“Adam’s been unlucky to have two good half-backs ahead of him at Keighley,” said Ratcliffe. “He wants to be playing first-team rugby at this stage in his career. We’ve given him that opportunity and yesterday he took it with both hands.

“He’s complemented Paul and is a good talker. He’s played very well, and there was some really good stuff on the edges. His goalkicking is a bonus.”

Ratcliffe was also pleased with Dave Clayton, who made a try-scoring debut following his loan move from Dewsbury. He replaced Rob Spicer in the centres, Spicer having been ruled out by an ankle injury picked up last week.

Said Ratcliffe: “He’s played against Casey Maybury, who is very experienced and tough, and he’s not been out-done. He’s actually beaten him a couple of times.”

Ratcliffe was happy the performance took the focus away from the Mapals issue.

“We’ve had a bit of disruption, but that situation has run its time,” said the assistant-coach. “We’ve moved on. The team ethic has come through. We’ve got nobody who is high maintenance (in the squad). They all buy into what we’re wanting to achieve and hopefully we will see the results because of it.”

David March, Danny Ratcliffe and Mark Applegarth all returned from injury, and all three impressed, including two-try Ratcliffe, who played through ongoing pain in his wrist.

Assistant-coach Ratcliffe said of the display: “We played all right. There was some good play around the edges and more than anything our discipline was good when a lot of (Blackpool) players started losing their heads.

“I think we’ve also been disciplined with how we’ve played the game. We’ve taken the right options and have been patient, trying to build pressure.”

Ratcliffe was especially pleased his side restricted the Panthers to just one try, having conceded 15 in the last two games.

“Defence wins games. We’ve worked very, very hard defensively after the poor effort at Gateshead (last week),” he said.

“We’ve pointed a few fingers and asked for improvements and they’ve reacted very well.

“Across the park we’ve had some very good displays.”