YORK City Knights made it a hat-trick of wins in pre-season with a 32-14 defeat of Castleford Tigers – and it was a particularly fitting night for Tom Hodgson.

The young hooker was given the captaincy for the day due to his close relationship with the late Paul Higgins, the former Knights academy coach in whose honour last night’s match was held.

And he capped the night by scoring a hat-trick, lifting the Paul Higgins Memorial Trophy, and being named man of the match by the Higgins family.

Player-coach Paul March said: “Tom was excellent from the kick off to the end. To go on the field as captain as a mark of respect for Higgo and play like that, he’s shown how much he loved the bloke. It all ended in a nice way.”

March’s young guns proved a match for their Cas counterparts, and if the first team can follow suit tomorrow against a strong Hull KR squad, it will complete a terrific pre-season campaign – especially when compared to the winless start to 2008.

Super League club Cas brought a 23-man squad of youngsters and fringe first-teamers, including prop Nathan Massey, who had a decent loan spell at York last year.

The Knights had largely a young squad too but started with four first-teamers in the pack in props Adam Sullivan, Scott Woodcock and Mark Applegarth, who began at loose-forward, and Hodgson, who normally comes off the bench. Skipper Paul Hughes swapped roles and started as a sub, getting his first run-out of pre-season after 25 minutes. He looked a bit rusty, but he, along with Sullivan and Applegarth, who also had their first hit-outs of 2009, are likely to get more game-time tomorrow.

It was Sullivan and more so Hodgson who were to the fore early. A good hit by Sullivan forced the first mistake of the game but as York gave the ball some air, 17-year-old scrum-half Luke Watling’s pass was intercepted.

But York kept field position and broke the deadlock on nine minutes as Sullivan drove to the line and Hodgson scored a customary try from dummy-half.

Three minutes later he repeated the feat, this time arcing in out wide. York College student Dan Fairclough – starting at full-back as trialist James Craven was not allowed to play by amateur club Thornhill – added two excellent conversions to cap another solid display. The other trialist to start, New Earswick’s Carl Barrow, was solid and at times forceful in the second row, though not as eyecatching as he was when playing against the Knights for York Select two weeks ago.

Hodgson nearly made it a hat-trick of tries but was held up on the line, but the lead increased as Watling collected a loose ball, made ground and got a great pass out to Joe Stearman to sprint into the corner. This time Fairclough’s long-ranger hit the bar.

Winger Tom Stancliffe scored his fourth try in three games in the opposite corner thanks to stand-off Danny Grimshaw’s fine cut-out pass, though Cas scrum-half Adam Fairhead and full-back James Ford darted in either side of half-time, Joe Arundel goaling the latter from the touchline, to make it 20-10.

Ford was only denied again by a great cover tackle from Grimshaw, who will hope to continue his good pre-season with a bigger test tomorrow, but Cas were within touching distance at 20-14 as pressure told, prop Jonathan Walker finding a big gap, though Ryan Boyle missed the easy conversion.

The plethora of interchanges did not effect the flow too much, Cas being denied an equaliser as Tom Lineham, the other York College student in the squad, wisely came off his wing to cover a kick when the visitors should probably have used the overlap.

The reintroduction of Woodcock and Sullivan shored York up, though, and, although a fine try for Dan Hunter from Sullivan’s neat little pass was ruled out, Sullivan then combined with Woodcock, whose superb pass out of the tackle gave Hodgson his hat-trick eight minutes from time.

Grimshaw goaled and did so again after sending a fine kick through for Joe Stearman to round off a good night’s work.

Knights: Fairclough, Joe Stearman, Blaney, Jones, Stancliffe, Grimshaw, Watling, Sullivan, Hodgson, Woodcock, O Wilcox-Harrison, Barrow, Applegarth. Subs (all used): Hughes, Endersby, Jack Stearman, Hunter, Walton, Lineham.

Attendance: 711.