HEAD coach Dave Woods was “proud” of his York City Knights side after they beat the odds to pick up a bonus point against Leigh.

The Centurions’ only defeat this season has been a narrow loss to Super League side Catalans in the Challenge Cup and they now head the Co-operative Championship table with nine wins and a draw from ten games.

The injury-hit Knights, meanwhile, fell to the foot of the table after Toulouse claimed a point on Saturday night, but they moved back above the French and to within one point of safety yesterday when repeatedly fighting back to earn a bonus from a 48-38 defeat at Huntington Stadium.

Woods said his young team – which included debutant Jordan Rice on the bench and teenage back-rower Ed Smith on the wing – needed to work on their defence again after conceding eight tries, but he was delighted with their vigour and the fact they scored seven themselves, several of them crackers.

“Leigh are not leading the competition for nothing,” said the Aussie.

“We were disappointed with the way we started, with too many soft tries, but at half-time we asked for commitment from the boys and for them to be proud of their effort.

“If they did that, controlled the ball and made their one-on-one tackles, the scoreboard takes care of itself.

“And I was proud of their second-half display.

“We’re not a bad side – we’re a young and inexperienced side. We haven’t got blokes that can’t play – we just need to be smart in what we do.

“In the second half we had some good ball and we looked really good going forward. To score that many points against the team coming first is a real good effort.

“We have to do more defensive work again, though, and communication work.”

He also asked the supporters to again show patience with his young troops.

“People who follow teams want them to put in the effort and have a go, and I can’t knock the blokes for that (yesterday). We got a bonus point out of it and that was great.

“If someone had said we’d get a point before the game, they’d have been laughed at.

“The blokes stuck at it, and the fans were great. We need their support – it’s a long season and things will eventually come good for us. We’ve got to be patient.”

Chris Thorman reverted to stand-off to form a new half-back partnership with Anthony Thackeray and this tactical switch seemed to pay off.

Jonny Presley, who made way in dropping to the bench, also came up with two tries, firstly as a replacement hooker and secondly when put on the wing due to injuries.

Woods added: “Chris Thorman and Anthony Thackeray took the ball to the line and when they did that we looked dangerous. It looked a bit better (at half-back) today.

“Jack Lee helped that. He was immense, not just with his defence but in getting us going forward and being able to feed those two halves. It allowed them to play a bit.”

As for debutant Rice, the reserves player of the year who came into the side at late notice as Davey Burns pulled out due to sickness, Woods said: “He’s still learning the game.

“It’s a lot quicker than what he’s used to and he came up with a couple of wrong reads, but that will come with experience and playing with the blokes around him.

“He did well. But they were all pretty decent. We’ve got work to do on our defence – but that bonus point was needed.”