Ford hopes York earned Cup respect from Saints

York coach James Ford was pleased with his team’s performance in their Challenge Cup defeat to St Helens on Friday evening.

Although the City Knights lost the game 46-6, Ford felt that his players showed the kind of character which will have earned the respect of their Super League opponents.

“We showed a lot of character against such a big club and I was pleased with most of it,” Ford told reporters after the game.

“We did pretty well in patches and stuck to our system.

“We didn’t execute quite as well as St Helens. Swift and Makinson are very good players. But we made six line breaks and that’s pleasing.

“We started a bit sloppily and t took us a bit of time to get going. But Keiron Cunningham is a legend in Rugby League and I believe he will have plenty of respect for us.”