CAPTAIN Chris Levy is keen to keep the crowd on-side as York City Knights look to crank up their promotion push.

Levy came in for criticism from some quarters of the Knights faithful during the Northern Rail Cup run of one win in six games but he impressed in his first run-out of the LHF Healthplan National League Two campaign on Sunday, scoring two tries in the 60-10 thrashing of Sheffield Eagles.

The 1,600 crowd were chanting his name at one point and Levy reckons they can play a big part in turning Huntington Stadium into a fortress.

"I copped a bit of stick, myself personally and the team, but they turn up week in, week out and they do get behind us," said the Aussie half-back.

"Hopefully we can keep them happy for the rest of the season.

"It was good (against Sheffield). Coach Mick Cook and the rest of the guys thought we were ready to give a team a bit of a hiding and Sunday was the day. We can now kick-on from that.

"I got two tries which is always nice and some of my kicks were good. I can't really complain.

"We looked at Sheffield and we knew the guys that would come in against us would be enthusiastic. But we were more concerned about getting things right for us.

"At the end of the day it's about how we perform. We know we're as good as anybody in the competition and if we get things right we will trouble sides."

That was the Knights' third win on the bounce since the defeat to Swinton in the league opener, and performances have improved each time. They now face leaders Dewsbury at home on Sunday in what is being billed as a potential clash of the season.

Levy was hoping to keep his half-back spot, but recognised he faced tough competition from Scott Rhodes, Paul Thorman and Lee Paterson, who played stand-off in the wins at Oldham and Keighley before switching to loose-forward against Sheffield.

Said Levy: "Hopefully I can keep a place, but Paul Thorman played well, and Scott Rhodes will be back next week. He's a quality player and he's quicker than myself and Paul. You could always do with at least one half-back who's lightning off the mark and Scott's got that.

"It's Mick Cook's decision how he views the opposition and how he sees fit for the side."

He added: "It's going to be a really tough game against Dewsbury.

"It's good to play them here, it gives us an edge off the bat. We know the pitch a bit better and we've got our home crowd behind us, which is a big advantage.

"We'll just concentrate on our game and put things together and if we work our systems right I can't see why we can't put on another good show."

Updated: 10:47 Thursday, April 21, 2005