DAN Potter has predicted tries aplenty for York City Knights' widemen this year following his hat-trick exploits against Doncaster.

The centre bagged three tries, had another ruled out for a forward pass and could easily have finished with five as the Knights followed-up their 38-24 defeat of Leeds at New Year with a 38-26 win over the Dragons at Huntington Stadium on Sunday.

Potter's treble followed a similar haul for winger Peter Fox against the Rhinos, while Fox grabbed another try against Doncaster with Austin Buchanan crossing twice more down the other wing. In total, York's threequarters have bagged ten tries between them in the two pre-season friendlies, Darren Callaghan having also scored against Leeds while playing at centre.

And Potter said: "I was chuffed to get three tries. It was nice after Foxy got three in the last game. I'm enjoying playing alongside him.

"We've got two really exciting wingers to watch with the ball and I'm sure there will be a lot of tries for our widemen this season."

He added: "In the first half (against Doncaster), the front row and all the pack were outstanding, especially considering they were coming up against a very tough Doncaster six. They've got us going forward and that created the platform for us."

Potter said Sunday's game, in which they led 28-0 at half-time, was tougher than the previous encounter with Leeds, when they came up against a predominantly young side.

"It was a good result," he said. "Doncaster have got several former Super League players and their squad is strong.

"They will be challenging in the First Division and 'Singe' (Dragons boss St John Ellis) has recruited well.

"It's the difference between playing young lads and grown men. You always expect a physical game against Donny. Any side coached by St John Ellis will be tough. He was aggressive as a player and he instils that into his players, but they've got a lot of flair as well and you've got to watch out for that.

"Our first half was really good but in the second we let ourselves down a bit. It's easy to slacken off with a 28-point lead; you try not to do it but it sometimes tends to happen. They then scored early and got a roll on.

"It's only pre-season and results don't count yet but there were things to be pleased about and things to learn from."

He added: "We're in pretty good shape but we don't want to get over-confident. There will be a lot of tough games this year and other teams look strong. You can't take anything for granted, we've got to take one game at a time and hopefully come the end of the season we'll be there or thereabouts."

The Knights' National League Two game away at Gateshead Thunder on May 15 will have to be rearranged to either another date or another venue as the Thunderdome, Gateshead International Stadium, will be hosting athletics that day.

Former Knights star Danny Brough was named man of the match and scored his first try for new club Hull as the Super League side won 44-10 in a friendly at Featherstone Rovers, York's rivals in the Northern Rail Cup group section. It was diminutive scrum-half Brough's first start for the Airlie Birds, whom the Knights face in their final pre-season friendly at the KC Stadium on Wednesday, January 26.

Updated: 10:49 Tuesday, January 18, 2005