HEAD coach James Ford lauded the impact of "old stager" Graeme Horne in York City Knights' stunning comeback victory on Sunday.

The Knights trailed 16-0 at Dewsbury Rams and, having had a couple of tries disallowed, it looked like being one of those days until veteran packman Horne went back on the field and helped to instigate a fightback which included three tries in 10 minutes and ended with a late Matty Marsh winner and 26-22 victory.

Former Hull KR forward Horne, 33, was an assistant-coach in last season's League One title-winning campaign and, while he has reverted to a purely playing role this term, Ford hailed his enduring influence - with a little dig at The Press included.

"I thought the 'old stager', as (The Press) keep referring to him as, was superb," he quipped.

"We will have to dip him in that 'Cocoon pool' on Tuesday night just so he's got enough energy for the next game."

Horne had started the game at loose-forward and, after a spell on the bench either side of half-time, kicked off the comeback with York's first try of the match after 55 minutes.

"He had an excellent second stint," added Ford. "He was very very good when he went back on."

Sub Kriss Brining also came in for praise, meanwhile, after playing longer minutes than planned.

The hooker returned to "home" club York from Salford Red Devils on the eve of the campaign, and was playing only his second match in 17 months after missing all of the 2018 Super League season due to a neck injury.

He entered the fray just before the 20-minute mark, interchanging with starting hooker Will Jubb, who went back on in the final quarter.

Ford confirmed it was an earlier-than-planned tactical change.

"I thought we lacked a bit of intensity in our defence so I made that change early. I wasn't planning on using Kriss probably until the second half," he said.

"But Kriss is incredibly powerful - he has lots of whack about him - and I just thought we needed to stiffen up a little bit.

"He went out there and, bear in mind he's been injured for a year and hasn't played for a year, I thought he was pretty good."

*A "Cocoon pool" refers to a swimming pool in the 1985 fim Cocoon that made old people feel younger.