HEAD coach James Ford said he could not be a prouder man after watching his York City Knights side shock Bradford Bulls in one of the games of the Betfred League One season.

The 30-28 victory in the top-of-the-table showdown at Odsal put the Knights level on points with the Bulls at the summit with eight matches to go of a compelling campaign.

It was also the sixth two-point game York have been involved in this term, and the fifth such victory - avenging the last-gasp 22-20 defeat to the Bulls on the opening day back in February.

Ford’s men had built a 24-0 lead and had to withstand a Bulls stampede in the second half, with a breakaway try by winger Judah Mazive giving them just enough breathing space. Bradford could still have equalised in the last minute but Dane Chisholm’s touchline conversion attempt drifted wide.

Ford said: “Bradford got momentum from a number of penalties that were avoidable. But I know my side have massive amounts of resilience and character.

“When their backs are against the well they stand up tall and find ways to work for each other, and they did that.

“They’ve won the game through a willingness to work for each other and to get out of real tough situations.

“I’m so proud of them.”

Asked if he thought Chisholm would nick a point at the death, Ford said: “I was thinking he’ll be loving this, will ‘Chissie’, because he’s that kind of bloke – he loves the attention and being the main man.

“He’s got class and comes up with big plays, and nine times out of 10, that goes over. I think the rugby gods were with us today.”

He added: “I could not be prouder. I don’t think many people expected us to be neck and neck with Bradford after round 18, but we are and we need to enjoy that.”

The players had imposed their own booze ban for over a week before the game.

Asked if there would be another “dry bus” back home, like in last Saturday’s trip to London Skolars, Ford said: “Definitely not. Only the driver can’t have a beer.

“We often speak about the things you cherish most in life, for the things you’ve had to work hard for, and they’ve worked hard today.

“I want them to go and have a beer with their mates or with their families or do whatever they do to enjoy it, because that is a big result for us."

York were on top in the first half and headed into the break 24-4 up.

Ford said of the first period: “I thought we were really good. We made only one error, maybe two. We were really disciplined with our kicking game and we also made a number of chances.

“We really fronted up defensively and we front-loaded our edges and really limited Bradford going forward.

“We have been working on that a while now, improving our turns, and that’s the best it has been all season against the best side we have played all season.”

Asked if he expected such a fight-back, he said: “John Kear (Bradford boss) is a world-class coach and I knew he would get a response at half-time. There’s also a reason Bradford are top.

“We knew they'd come back at us. We needed to make sure we had enough resilience to see it through.”

Asked for his man of the match, Ford said: “I thought everyone was great.

“Ben Cockayne was really good, Connor Robinson’s discipline with his kicking was good, Jake Butler-Fleming came up with big plays, Joe Batchelor was great, the middles worked really hard, Sam Scott had maybe his best game for us. All of them were superb.

“Today was a big game, I’ll tell you that, and you need your big players, your most experienced players, to stand up, and the likes of Benny Cockayne stood up and had a fantastic game.

“They’re rugby league people, they live and breathe it – (people like) Horney (Graeme Horne), Benny. They don’t need to play. They’re playing because they absolutely love it and they’re still challenging themselves and everybody around them to be better.

“They have got a perfect mentality for this club. I’m enjoying working with them and long may that continue.”

On new signing Jack Ormondroyd, the prop who arrived from Leeds Rhinos last week, Ford said: “He was good.

“He carried the ball strongly, defended well and worked hard for the team.”

Referee Matt Rossleigh awarded Bradford 17 penalties and York six.

Ford said: “Some of the penalties were justified, some weren’t.

“But it’s difficult coming to Bradford when there’s 6,000 people begging for penalties every play.

“He needed more help from his touch judges, certainly, especially considering they were mic’d up. When they’re miles offside from kicks – either the touch judges need their eyes checking or the comms aren’t working.”