YORK City Knights finished their 2021 Betfred Championship season with a resounding 32-22 victory over London Broncos. Here are five things that we learnt from the game.

1. York's departing players are sent out on a high

With a place in the play-offs out of York's reach, much of the motivation centred around finishing strongly for the five that have been confirmed as departing the club.

The most high-profile of those players was former captain Tim Spears, a modern legend of the club, having been the first and arguably most significant signing since the arrival of chairman Jon Flatman.

It was only fitting that Spears should receive a standing ovation from both sets of fans as he left the field in the second half.

Adding to the sense of the occasion, Danny Washbrook scored a brilliant dummy try, James Green knocked over the first goal of his career and Ryan Atkins displayed the class he has shown all year. All three will now hang up their boots.

Long-serving forward Sam Scott also played for the final time in a York shirt and received plenty of support from the crowd with every carry.

For all five to finish with a victory was well deserving of their efforts while at the Knights.

2. The youngsters again stand out

At the opposite end of their careers, York's three teenage stars - Myles Harrison, Toby Warren and AJ Towse - continued to show their promise.

Harrison continued to appear confident and assured at full-back and Ford made a partial admission that he should have thrown in Harrison earlier in the league season.

Warren was the stand-out having more than matched a physical London pack and been unlucky not to have found a couple of offload.

Making his first start for the club, Towse impressed under kicks and defended strongly, though did find it tough making metres in yardage.

Having been given a taste of first-grade rugby league, all three will now be desperate for more minutes.

3. York closer than appears to play-off places

Despite York securing victory over London, they could only place ninth in the table, a far cry from the third position managed in 2019.

Without a doubt, this season has been a disappointment, but recent home wins over London, Whitehaven and Widnes show that they are not too far off their top rivals.

The misfortune of injuries has no doubt hit the Knights badly but it is also only fair to point to a lack of adequate permanent cover ahead of the season.

If York can address this, then they will remain among the play-offs' challenging pack next year.

4. Fans still backing James Ford

Even at the end of a below-par season, as Ford walked from the tunnel to his position at the far side of the field, the applause for him was as loud as ever.

It was a sign that the coach still has the full backing of the crowd after the recent success he has brought to the club.

Ford will face his toughest challenge of the Flatman era in re-establishing York as a promotion challenger, but he will receive plenty of backing in doing so.

5. More queuing outside LNER Community Stadium

One of the few blots on a celebratory afternoon was the pictures of large queues outside the ground due to a lack of open turnstiles, as seen far too often this year.

The finger of blame has been levelled at the York Stadium Management Company. Whoever is to blame, now four months since the ground opened to fans, these are not scenes that should be seen.