Kingstone Press League 1 Preview: York City Knights v Newcastle Thunder

James Ford, the York City Knights coach, was happy with his side’s 50-10 win over University of Gloucestershire All Golds.

He said: “We expected a tough game and to be honest I don’t think the score line reflected their effort, I thought they were pretty good. Lee Greenwood’s obviously doing a good job.

“Newcastle are a good team who have invested substantially in players and on their day they have proved this season that they can beat anybody. I’m sure it will be a keenly contested game and one that we’re looking forward to.”

Scrum-half Jordan Howden is a doubt with a knee injury.

Newcastle Thunder coach Stanley Gene wasn’t particularly pleased with his team’s victory over Hemel Stags: “A win is a win,” he said. “It’s not bad winning games when you’re not playing well.

“We were looking at getting a performance to go into the York and Keighley games but we didn’t. But it’s two points, we’ll move on.

“York finished top of the table last year and are a good side. We’ve beaten them twice so we’ll be full of confidence going in there.”