YORK Knights head coach Andrew Henderson was left pleased with young loanees Oli Pratt and Taylor Pemberton after Sunday’s thrilling comeback victory at Widnes Vikings.

Both were named among the interchanges, but certainly made their impacts felt after being introduced mid-way through the first half.

Pemberton, who joined the Knights on loan from Betfred Super League heavyweights St Helens on deadline day, darted out of dummy half to score just minutes into his debut, with Pratt then providing the finishing touch to a fine team move before his mazy run through the Widnes defence played in Oli Field to cross.

The 20-year old hooker was withdrawn with a rib problem after the break, and with both James Cunningham and Josh Daley sidelined through injury, Henderson was left pleased both with his performance and how he has settled into his squad.

“I was quite impressed with Taylor,” he enthused to The Press.

“I identified him as a good fit for us, both as a person as a player, especially once we knew the news about James Cunningham. The great thing about Taylor is that he can cover at nine, seven and at 13, he adds some really good utility value.

“I’ve been very impressed with him since he’s come into the organisation and he’s slotted straight in with the playing group.

“There’s a real honesty about him and he obviously sees there’s a great opportunity for him to develop his game.

“I was really pleased with his first hit-out - I thought that he looked very comfortable out there in terms of the style of play that we wanted, he managed the ruck well and I thought that he worked hard defensively too for the team.

“It was just a shame that he got hurt when he did, but he trained on Tuesday night fine, and showed no signs of discomfort too much, so I think he’ll be good to go.

“I’m looking forward to seeing whether he can build on what was a positive start.”

Centre Pratt, who learned his trade at amateurs Heworth before moving to Wakefield Trinity and then back to his hometown in May, at first enjoyed a run of starts amid the Knights’ injury crisis before dropping behind Chris Clarkson and Jesse Dee in the pecking order.

However, injuries to both captain Clarkson and half-back Ata Hingano have presented the young talent with another opportunity to show his talents at the Knights - and it’s one that he seems to be taking with both hands.

“We had a bit of a chat with Oli a number of weeks back,” Henderson explained. “There were some areas of his game that I felt that he wasn’t hitting the right standards on.

“But I’ve got to give him a lot of credit. He took that in his stride and he’s been working extremely hard to fix up some of those areas, and he’s shown me enough in training to give me the confidence that he’s back on track.

“He’s got himself back in the team and he’s acquitted himself well in the game against Toulouse and the one against Widnes. I’m really pleased for him.

“But that’s part of being a young player, you’re on that development journey. I know they’re not always going to be there and young players will have their ups and their downs, but it’s how you manage that as a coach and get them back on track to keep progressing as players.

“It was a nice little learning curve there - I think he had about three or four weeks where he didn’t get selected - but he’s managed to work his way back into the team and he’s had two decent performances, so I’m really pleased for the young man.”