LOCAL favourite Ash Robson is The Press Player of the Month for May - lifting himself into the frame for The Press Player of the Year accolade come the end of term.

On-loan centre Nick Rawsthorne was a strong candidate for the May gong after his six tries and 10 goals in the three games, but Robson just topped our poll - thanks to his man-of-the-match display in the important win at Newcastle last time out.

Full-back Robson was a game-changer that night, creating a try out of nothing, scoring another and constantly troubling the hosts with his kick returns.

It followed good shows in the big wins over Coventry and Gloucestershire All Golds - the day when the unlucky Rawsthorne also missed out on man-of-the-match plaudits despite bagging four tries.

Head coach James Ford said of Robson: "I thought he was really good against Newcastle. He turned the momentum back in our favour with a line break, he got a try and he had other really good involvements throughout.

"He also made a really positive contribution against Coventry and, while he made an error against Gloucestershire, he showed a lot of maturity not to let that affect the rest of his performance and he finished the game really well - I was really pleased to see that mental strength in him."

Robson, the former York Acorn ARLC junior who became arguably the Knights marquee winter signing when he joined from Castleford, gains three bonus points for his Press Player of the Year tally courtesy of his Player of the Month success.

That adds to the three points he gained as our man of the match against Newcastle, with the six lifting him to joint-top in the standings with Tim Spears, the club's other big winter recruit, on 11.

Also picking up Player of the Year points from the Newcastle game are Rawsthorne, who gains two as our second-best performer on the night, and Chris Siddons, who gains one.

Dual-reg stand-off Liam Harris was our man of the match in the previous game against Coventry - for the second consecutive match - and so adds three points to his Player of the Year tally.

Joe Batchelor was our second-best performer that day, against his former club, so gets two points and 2016 Player of the Year Ed Smith gets one point, keeping him in touch with this season's leaders.

Press Player of the Year standings: Spears 11, Robson 11, E Smith 9, Harris 7, Robinson 7, Porter 6, Batchelor 6, Siddons 4, Rawsthorne 4, Hey 3, H Tyson-Wilson 3, Moran 3, Carter 2, Haynes 2, Ellis 1, Presley 1, B Tyson-Wilson 1.