YORK City Knights coach Mick Cook has hailed winger Peter Fox for "coming up trumps" just when his side needed a bit of magic.

The Knights had been pegged back to 16-16 away to Gateshead Thunder yesterday when, midway through the second half, Fox cut loose from half-way to score a brilliant solo try which set up a crucial 24-16 win.

The victory kept the Knights top of the LHF National League Two table on points-difference, and Cook said: "Foxy provided a bit of magic when we really needed it. He continues to score those kind of tries, which is great for us.

"It was probably the game-breaker.

"We needed someone to pull something out of the hat and Foxy came up trumps with one of his specials."

Cook, who again made several changes to his team, including in the pivotal positions of half-back and hooker, admitted his side's performance was otherwise "frustrating", but added the key thing was winning the game.

"We changed a few things around and we're happy with what we've done," he said. "We got the two points and that was the objective.

"Our skill levels were quite poor at times, we did not have the control or the territory that we would have liked. But to expect to go out and score 60 points a game like we did against Sheffield and Dewsbury is unrealistic in this competition.

"We haven't played up to scratch but we got the two points and that's a big positive.

"I thought we scored some good tries in the first half, the skill levels were good, but we could not maintain it for the duration. At times when we needed to build pressure we turned over easy possession.

"Our standards were a bit down, a bit loose in some areas, and I've told the players we need to raise our standards a bit."

Cook refused to criticise the display of young referee Robert Hicks, preferring to concentrate on improving his players' performance.

"I thought the infringements around the rucks could have been dealt with better and there were some high shots in there," he said. "But we needed to make sure we were in control but turned over too much possession."

Cook reckoned the big travelling army that helped to give Thunder their best home gate for three years of 705 played their part in the win.

"At 16 apiece with errors coming from both sides, I thought the crowd gave us a real lift," he said.

"Let's hope they can stay behind the lads for the whole season."

Updated: 11:03 Monday, May 16, 2005