JAMES FORD hailed York City Knights’ “togetherness and composure” to hold off Workington’s short-lived comeback in a 44-18 win at Derwent Park.

York boasted a 20-point lead midway through the second half but Workington rallied to cut the gap to just eight points.

After such a dominant first 40 minutes, the Knights found a second wind and hit back with three unanswered tries to finish as comfortable winners.

“I don’t want to take anything way from Workington in that period because I thought they played well and asked some good questions of us,” reflected Ford.

“But there was some disruption around there as Marshy (Matty Marsh) and Kriss (Brining) had head injury assessments.

“We just didn’t manage that period well enough. We gave away soft penalties and didn’t complete possession that we had.

“What pleased me the most was our reaction to that. There’s a 10 to 15 minute period where Workington were the better team and a weak team falls to pieces.

“But we showed great togetherness and composure to manage the game back into our favour and pull away from them in the end.”