COACH Mick Cook described Paul Thorman as a cool customer after his late drop goal saw York City Knights beat Gateshead Thunder 37-36 in a cracker at Huntington Stadium.

The Tynesider stepped back into space and slotted over the one-pointer with 90 seconds left to counter a stunning fightback by his home-town team and former club.

The win lifted the Knights one point clear of Dewsbury at the top of LHF National League Two ahead of the massive clash between the sides at Tetley's Stadium next Sunday, the Rams having needed a last-minute drop goal themselves to draw 15-15 at title-rivals Workington.

Cook had praise for Thorman and indeed for the way the Knights built a commanding 36-12 lead, but he slated the way his side allowed Gateshead back into the game.

"We had a good set to get there," he said of Thorman's match-winner. "He had time but there was pressure on him to make it. We needed it to win the game, but he's a pretty cool customer and pretty tough as well."

However, Cook reckoned his side should not have needed the late winner.

He said: "In the first half we did a lot of good things, though we lacked a bit of patience. We had a good start to the second half but stopped doing the things that were positive and pressed the self-destruct button.

"We got soft defensively and in the end had to scratch around for a drop goal to win a game I thought we had won comfortably.

"We didn't stick to the game-plan and made errors. We knew they're a capable side if they get the ball in their hands and we knew we had to restrict that but we didn't.

"Gateshead have got plenty of off-loads and we knew we had to restrict those to not work overtime in defence but we conceded about 20 off-loads and did much more work in defence than we should have had to do. Our defence at times was not good enough.

"We took our foot off the gas and conceded 36 points and I'm really disappointed about that. We don't normally concede that much."

He added: "It still puts us a point clear at the top but we will have to do a job next week to keep that lead.

"We've got a few areas to improve on and I'm sure we will do.

"We lowered our standards a bit. Playing 40-minute football is not enough to win the competition."

Updated: 11:04 Monday, July 25, 2005