HEAD coach James Ford was not overly critical of fluffed chances after his much-changed York City Knights side racked up 13 tries in a 68-6 hammering of Coventry Bears.

Joe Batchelor missed the equivalent of an open goal in the first half and Joe Porter also bounced the ball over the try line in the second, while the Knights had a number of other scores disallowed.

But Ford said he would have accepted a 68-6 scoreline before kick-off as his side, having drawn level with leaders Bradford at the top of Betfred League One following their stunning win at Odsal last week, now look to close the points-difference gap to the Bulls.

That difference rose to 138 points after the Bulls’ 58-12 win at London Skolars on Saturday but now stands at 76 points with seven games to go – Batchelor still finishing with four tries on the day to take his season’s tally to 18.

“It’s a challenge – a tough challenge – to finish above Bradford, and we’re aware that to do that we need to be as good as we can be every week,” said Ford regarding the fact the title could come down to points-difference.

“We did waste a couple of chances, but the conditions were difficult – it was wet and windy – and you have to credit Coventry’s last-ditch efforts.

“We were focused first and foremost on winning the game. We respect sides in this competition and we know we have to turn up, work hard and control the ball well to win these games, and we did that pretty well.

“I don’t think Coventry rolled over. The scoreline went away from them but backing up from Wednesday night made it tough for them.”

Of York’s performance overall against a side on a four-game winning run, Ford said: “I thought we were really good. Coventry have been travelling well of late and scored almost 100 points in their last two games. We knew they presented a challenge.

“It was made more difficult for them by playing Wednesday. We’re aware of that but they stuck at it and had a dig and asked questions of us but I thought we were really good.

“The middle of the field was superb - every single one of the blokes in the middle played out of their skin.”

Ford had changed the bulk of his pack after last week’s bruising win at Bradford.

He said: “People talk about not changing a winning team, but I don’t think I’ve picked the same 17 once this year and we’re not doing too badly.

“You’ve got to pick a team ready for that week. The boys out there were fresh and a couple had a point to prove - blokes like Ronan Dixon, who was absolutely superb.

“He carried the ball immensely hard and worked hard in one or two areas that I asked him to improve, and he’s come away from this game with an enhanced reputation.”

Ford also said the big win came “on the back of our defensive mentality”.

“We turned the ball over in what we class as good areas and our line speed and our contact was first class, certainly in the first half, and that led to us dominating territory and having a lot of possession on Coventry’s line.

“We’ve bombed a couple of chances obviously and we've had some ruled out, but it was a good performance. If we are to make up this huge (points-difference) deficit we need to start turning a couple more of those chances into tries.

“But I can’t be too critical because we’ve scored 68 points.”

Ford also sympathised with Batchelor’s gaffe, saying: “It’s a lack of concentration, not a skills issue. He’s scored the try before he’s caught the ball. But he finished with four (tries) didn’t he.

“On my debut for Widnes against Gateshead I put two down like that. I finished with four as well that day.”

Ford also said there was no extra pressure on his players to post big scores due to the state of the title race.

“It’s one game at a time,” he said. “We want the two points first and foremost. There are no gimmes and we don’t expect teams to roll over for us. We just have to be the best we can be.”