THE decision to postpone a decision on letting French team UTC join the Super League has disappointed me this week.

I spent five days at the Perpignon club in the build-up to our match against Villeneuve and I think accepting them into Super League would be a great idea.

They are having their stadium newly-refurbished and it's a strong rugby area where lots of young players from all over France are going to play.

It's also so easy to get to from England. Flights are relatively cheap and it's right on the south coast of France. It's very accessible, much more so than Paris when they were in the Super League.

So I am keeping my fingers crossed for UTC and their coach Steve Deakin, who is an old friend of mine.

Back on home soil, we have drawn Halifax in the Arriva Trains Cup quarter-finals. We have not had much luck in either that competition or the Challenge Cup this season and we are away again at a team that were favourites for their division before the season started having just been relegated from the Super League.

Once again though, we will have nothing to lose, we will be playing in a nice stadium and will give it our best shot and see what happens again. At least, we're not playing Featherstone again - I think both teams are sick of the sights of each other now.

We beat them for the fourth time and, considering York's record against them over the last 50 years, that is a proud achievement and a step forward. There's a chance we could meet again in a promotion/relegation play-off but I hope that's not the case.

This weekend also determined that the Challenge Cup final will see two familiar foes do battle after the underdogs seemed to suffer stage fright.

Warrington, especially, contributed to their own downfall by the way they conceded tries against Wigan and, for all that's been said about St Helens, coach Ian Millward clearly turned it around and made sure experience and world-class ability counted against Huddersfield.

It's hard to look beyond Saints in the final but, having said that, the concerning news about coach Mike Gregory being infected by a disease after being bitten in Australia could have be a big motivational factor for Wigan. I have heard Mike might have to go to America for treatment and, if that's the case, the lads will want to win it for him.

Wigan v St Helens is a classic clash and if the game matches the excellent drawn encounter over Easter it will befit the occasion.

Elsewhere, the two coaches I mentioned previously in my column have suffered different fortunes since. Graham Steadman did not get the results he needed and got the sack at Castleford while Neil Kelly got two wins to keep Widnes in play-off contention and keep his job.

Finally, I would like wish York City all the best in their attempts to return to the Football League.

It's at times like these when everybody needs to stick by them. You have to look forward and be positive.

What I would say is something that also can be related to York City Knights - Tough times don't last, tough people do.

Updated: 11:16 Wednesday, April 28, 2004