HEAD coach Dave Woods was quick to praise his front-rowers after their battling show against big-guns Widnes – just as his York City Knights outfit recruit another prop to add to the mix.

Former Doncaster forward Mark Castle, who was set to join from amateurs Fryston after making an appearance as a trialist at Easter, is not now coming to Huntington Stadium after turning down terms.

However, York have agreed to take Hull academy front-rower Jack Aldous on loan for a month. He will be available for the games against Batley, Toulouse and, firstly, fellow strugglers Dewsbury, which is next up, on June 26.

Woods, whose men climbed off the foot of the Championship when earning a bonus point in a 22-18 defeat to Super League-bound Widnes yesterday, said: “The club made him (Castle) an offer but he wants more so he’s ruled himself out of that.

“By all accounts, Jack Aldous is a tough kid who carries the ball well and defends well. It makes for a bit more competition for places and makes people have to work hard and keep on their game.”

Aldous, 20, has made one appearance for Hull’s first team, in their Challenge Cup win over Oldham, and while not the biggest of props, has a reputation for non-stop tackling and brave hit-ups, being likened to Featherstone’s Iain Morrison.

His loan recruitment might be deemed contradictory after the Knights controversially turned down a renewed temporary deal for Castleford prop Nathan Massey, but The Press understands Aldous comes on more favourable terms, and his loan means he cannot be recalled by his parent club for a month, unlike the dual-registered Massey.

He will also take part in all of York’s training sessions, starting tomorrow night, whereas Massey only came across once a week.

Woods chose to use utility man Steve Lewis as a replacement prop yesterday, omitting Jack Stearman and likewise leaving big Brett Waller on the sidelines, while Ben Jones, on his second game back from injury, only played 28 minutes.

This left captain Alex Benson and Nathan Freer to do the bulk of the work up front.

Woods said: “Our boys in the forward pack did well. They’ve copped a bit of criticism, the boys in the front row, but they’ve stood up and worked really hard for each other, and that’s what we’ve tried to do – work hard for each other and get results.

“Nath and Benno were superb in their first spell and when they went back on they did some good stuff again.”

As for Jones, he said: “It’s going to take a few weeks to get his match fitness back. We were going to put him back on with five or ten minutes to go but we were getting a roll on.”

That roll-on garnered a try by The Press man-of-the-match Ryan Esders to cement a bonus point for the Knights, but, like in the defeats to Leigh and Featherstone, it could have been more.

“Our errors have cost us in the end,” said Woods.

“We’ve gone three weeks against three of the better teams – the two top (Leigh and Featherstone) and then Widnes.

“Each time we’ve got ourselves in a position to win the game but again we made too many errors and they’ve scored on the back of those errors.”

It was still a major turnaround from the 76-12 thrashing handed out to Woods’ men in the reverse fixture two months ago, just days after the Vikings were granted a Super League licence for 2012 onwards.

Woods said: “I don’t think anyone could’ve beaten them that day with the way they played and all the hype around the Super League stuff.”

The Knights also overcame the controversial sin-binning of Matt Garside after only one minute yesterday to twice take the lead through Ed Smith and Ben Jones, only for Widnes to level both times and go ahead after the interval.

Woods said of the officiating: “I don’t know what they look at, the officials.

“Craig Halloran (referee) didn’t want to speak to me.

“It’s ridiculous to sin-bin a bloke in the first minute for an incident that was nothing, and then get high shot after high shot and get someone taken out off the ball – and then Esders gets taken out as they’re running through – and not one of them gets sin-binned.”

Betts hails hosts

WIDNES head coach Denis Betts believes York City Knights could be a force to be reckoned with in the Championship in 2012 – if they can stay up.

The young Knights, promoted through the play-offs last year, were ravaged 76-12 at Widnes in April but came close to turning the tables on the Super League-bound Vikings at Huntington Stadium yesterday before losing 22-18.

Former Wigan and Great Britain legend Betts said: “The scoreline flattered us last time. They’ve got some decent players and I was impressed with a few of their lads. There were some real good contacts and some aggression.

“It’s difficult to come up and be competitive but if they can stay in this division I think they can be competitive next year.”