YORK City Knights' battling team and "unbelievable" supporters have been lauded from all quarters after they played their full part on an emotive night at Knowsley Road.

The Knights as expected lost their Powergen Challenge Cup fifth round tie at holders St Helens but the 62-0 scoreline was no walkover.

And they were backed to the hilt by a large travelling army reckoned by neutrals to be more befitting of Super League than National League Two.

Last night's match was beset by a long-lasting protest by Saints fans in support of coach Ian Millward, who has been suspended by the club in the wake of controversial disciplinary charges.

However, the atmosphere generated by the visiting fans was just as ear-splitting, drowning out the home faithful at times and helping to create an absorbing occasion.

And praise came from not only the Knights but also St Helens, not least from Paul Sculthorpe, the new Great Britain captain.

"I thought the York fans really got behind their team," the Saints skipper told the Evening Press. "It was a great showing from them and a great turnout on a miserable, rainy night."

He added: "York kept throwing a lot of things at us and put pressure on our line at times. It's a step up to Super League but they showed a lot of spirit.

"All credit to the club. I've spoken to friends who play in the National League, and I believe York are doing great things. They're at the top of NL2 and with the effort they showed last night I'm sure they'll be pushing for promotion."

Saints' 50th point of the match was greeted with a rousing 25-minute rendition of "We're York and we're proud of it" which continued after the final hooter, and Knights chairman Roger Dixon said: "We all know how great the fans are but even I didn't expect that response.

"I thought the supporters were magnificent and matched the performance of the players on the pitch."

Coach Mick Cook added: "The fans were great, they never stopped and there was a fair few of them as well. You won't see many teams who are losing by 50 points have backing like that.

"There were some tired bodies out there and the fans lifted them. I never know what to expect - they just get better.

"I think the players deserved it for the effort they put in."

Cook admitted that failing to score was the "biggest disappointment", but he was keen to take positives from the experience.

"I thought we probably deserved a try but Saints defended well," he said. "We didn't have enough time in their half. Let's hope it's the last time we get no points.

"We knew we were in for a tough game. Saints are averaging 50 points against Super League sides and, looking at it that way, we conceded only 12 more.

"We struggled with the pace of the game at first and it took us a while to acclimatise but I'm pretty happy with our blokes.

"We got beat by a quality side and, while there are some areas we need to improve on, I thought we worked hard, came up with try-saving tackles time after time and asked them questions."

Updated: 09:58 Saturday, May 07, 2005