HEAD coach James Ford insisted York City Knights were “not getting carried away” after their stunning start to the season continued with victory over Halifax.

The 38-16 success made it five wins on the bounce for the League One champions and temporarily put them joint-top on points of the Betfred Championship, prior to Toronto Wolfpack’s evening game.

They ended the weekend fourth in the table, but just two points behind the Wolfpack and below Toulouse Olympique and Sheffield Eagles only on points-difference. They also have a game in hand over Toronto and Toulouse, while Sheffield come to Bootham Crescent next weekend.

Nevertheless, Ford was focussing only on improvement, and found some fault in a performance which comfortably saw off the men from the Shay.

“They don’t hand trophies out a quarter of the way through a season,” said Ford, who claimed he was unaware his team had briefly gone joint-top.

“We’re not getting carried away. We’re only round seven, so there’s plenty of rugby to be played and we’re going to keep focusing on trying to be better.”

Asked if he thought York were proving a surprise package this season following their promotion last term, Ford said: “A surprise to who?

“We just focus on ourselves and on hitting our standards and trying to get better every week. What other teams think of us I don’t care. I never have done and never will do.”

This victory was set up be three tries in the opening 13 minutes – the first coming via an interception by Connor Robinson, who sent winger Judah Mazive flying home. Halifax came back at them, but the Knights went clear in the second half.

“Connor reacted well to that,” said Ford. “I think he fancied himself to go the full length but luckily he changed his mind and sent Judah.

“That shows the willingness of the team to work hard and react to errors.

“The harder you work the luckier you get. Connor worked really hard to put himself in that situation and he reacted well. Halifax had an opportunity and had some numbers on us but it turned out pretty well. We were fortunate but we had the composure to finish it off.

“We started well. We generally start pretty high - nine or 10 out of 10 in terms of completion – and we had some movement. But I didn’t think we kicked the ball as well as we normally do. I’m not sure if that was down to the wind or maybe Halifax’s kick pressure put us off a bit.

“At times we struggled to handle their two wingers and you can throw (centre) James Saltonstall into that as well. I thought they came out of yardage against us better than anyone has this season. They ran plenty of metres on us.

“We will need to look at that and be better next week.

“Our play fives were also a bit loose, possibly down to the wind, although it could also be down to them being a good side.

“I thought large parts were good and our effort was outstanding. But I thought we could have kicked the ball better and at times our contacts and third-man efforts could have been better.”

Ford, meanwhile, had high praise for second-row Josh Jordan-Roberts, who had been named on stand-by but was called on to play after winger Perry Whiteley pulled out just before kick-off. JJR went to centre with Jason Bass moving out to the wing.

Explained Ford: “Perry got a migraine and had issues with his vision so at three minutes to 3pm we had to make some decisions. We had (hooker) Will Jubb and ‘One Bob’ (Jordan-Roberts) in the squad.

“I thought Josh for a young man dealt with that really well, coming into the team at three minutes’ notice and playing out of position in the centre.

“He took it in his stride and it was a mature performance from him.

“Bassy as well. He’s only a young man and a centre by trade, and he dropped onto the wing. I was really pleased with how he played.”

Ford also hailed the way full-back Matty Marsh dealt with high swirling kicks.

He said: “I had a few goes at playing full-back myself, not too successfully, and to be challenged by kickers of that quality in this wind and deal with it – both Marshy and the young kid (at full-back for Halifax) Reece Chapman-Smith, did tremendous under all sorts of pressure. Those kicks aren’t easy to catch with no wind never mind with this wind.

“Chapman-Smith will be disappointed not to win the game but he’s showed lots of promise and Marshy showed class for large portions of the game.”

The head coach was also delighted to give captain Tim Spears and fellow packman Sam Scott their first appearances of the season after injury, second-row Scott marking his with a try after only six minutes.

Said Ford: “It’s always great to bring Spearsy back in. He makes everybody else better around him. Everybody is accountable to him.

“It’s also great to bring a man of his (Scott’s) experience back and he scored a try using his physicality. I wouldn’t want to tackle him, would you?”

Ford added of another decent attendance: “The crowd was great.

“The Halifax fans travelled in numbers and got behind their team. They will have better times through the season, that’s for sure. They’ve got a great coach and wonderful players.

“But the York fans were fantastic. They turned out in massive numbers again and got behind us and helped us find extra energy again.

“They’re a massive part of our performance - and that’s not just a cliche, I genuinely mean it.

“When we’re tired and they get behind us you can see physically it gives the boys a lift.”