Dying the dream

Featherstone Rovers, so bold in the off-season with an eye-catching recruitment drive in a bid to "live the dream" (to paraphrase a certain former Leeds United chairman), are seemingly facing an about-turn with rumours that some players may soon be let go along with director of rugby Tony Smith, who left this month.

The future over at Post Office Road - sorry, the Chris Moyles Stadium - was supposedly "bright", but now it has turned a little murky.

Meanwhile, Doncaster chairman John Wright, with grand designs on a Super League franchise, has publicly admitted he is struggling to keep the Lakers in business having ploughed more than £1million of his own cash into the club over the past six years.

And Swinton Lions this week went into administration.

York rugby league fans know all about financial troubles having endured the demise of York Wasps, which is why the occasional call for the club to follow the big-spenders seems rather short-sighted, as well as a disregarding of salary cap rules.

Knights chief executive John Guildford has always stressed the club would work within their means, and while he admitted this week that results did need to improve, he was adamant he would not spend money the club has not got to find improvements.

"We've got to be careful with what we're doing," he explained. "We've always cut our cloth accordingly. I would like to live the dream' but we're not daft enough to do that."

In the meantime, he has called on the fans to maintain their support in the wake of falling attendances, to keep the club at the top of the NL2 fans league.

"Results help, without a shadow of a doubt, but we need people to get behind the club. Gate receipts have a big effect on our turnover and, in turn, what we can spend," he added.

LOOSE-forward Steve Grundy staked his claim for more first-team recognition with another good display for the Knights academy team this week.

Grundy, who is knocking on the first team door, was probably the pick of the young Knights in their 38-20 defeat at Rochdale.

Paul Higgins' side, featuring four fringe first-teamers in Kyle Palmer, Andy Gargan, Adam Endersby and Grundy, began the game well and built a deserved 8-0 lead through a Danny Giles penalty and a converted try by hooker Tom Hodgson.

York dominated the first quarter but the hosts, on the back of numerous penalties and York errors, came back strongly to score four unanswered tries to go 22-8 early in the second half.

Leigh Rientoul, who did well out of position at full-back, scored a converted try following a good kick by stand-off Gargan to bring York back into it, but the hosts scored three more tries on the back of a penalty count which ended 17-4 in their favour - some due to ill-discipline and some to controversial refereeing.

Rientoul had the last word with his second converted try, again following up a kick, but, after dominating the opening quarter, York, for whom Endersby and fellow prop Dan Hunter had good games, had largely themselves to blame for letting the game go away from them.

The academy's next game is away to Workington on Sunday, May 6.

KNIGHTS STAT ATTACK

GOOD BOYS

Press player of the month awards: Ian Brown 1, Lee Mapals 1.

Press man of the match awards: Brown 2, Esders 2, Rayner 2, Spicer, Wray, Cakacaka, Helme, Mapals, Williams, Rhodes all 1.

Trade paper man of the match awards: Wray 3, Helme 2, Mapals 2, Thackeray 2, Rayner 2, Rhodes 2, Williams, Liddell all 1.

Tries: Mapals 7, Brown 7, Rayner 6, Thackeray 5, Buckley 5, C Spurr 4, Elston 4, Potter 3, Dunmore 3, Rhodes 3, Helme 2, Smith 2, Esders 2, Cakacaka 2, Priestley, Liddell, Sullivan, Wray, Grundy, Lingard, Spicer all 1.

Goals: Wray 26/40; Gargan 8/0; Lingard 6/9, Liddell 2/4; Dunmore 1/2; Rayner 0/1.

BAD BOYS

Penalties for York: 113.

Penalties against York: 112.

Yellow cards for York: MacDonald 2, Esders 1.

Yellow cards for opposition: Gateshead 2, Toulouse 2, Keighley 1, Barrow 1.

Red cards for York: 0.

Red cards for opposition: 0.

Tribute for Olive

AN impeccable minute's silence was held before last week's game at home to Barrow for a massive supporter of York rugby league, Olive Warters.

Mrs Warters, who passed away last week aged 70 after a battle with cancer, was married to Pete Warters, a former board member of York Rugby League Club and former chairman of York Acorn ARLC.

Mrs Warters, of Dringhouses, a former landlady at the Locomotive in Holgate and the Coach and Horses on Micklegate, also dedicated much of her time to the sport and was a life member of York City Knights.

She was the grandmother of Knights star Jonny Liddell, former Knights ace Peter Fox, who is now in Super League with Wakefield, Acorn player Danny Liddell, and Tom Hill, another Acorn player who has been capped by BARLA Great Britain Under-21s.

More than 400 people, including many with links to York rugby league, attended her funeral at York Crematorium on Wednesday.

Scottie beams up

SCOTT Rhodes has continued his rise up the Press Player of the Year leaderboard after being deemed our man of the match in the cup loss to Barrow last weekend.

Stand-off Rhodes, who has captained the side this season in the absence of skipper Dan Potter, is regularly the man York turn to for attacking inspiration and has handled the responsibility valiantly, despite the team's stuttering form.

He adds three points to his player-of-the-year tally, while George Rayner - who had a winning try controversially ruled out - had a good game to make up for his costly error in the previous game against Hunslet and gets two.

The remaining player-of-the-year point goes to Dave Buckley, of whom the Knights will be looking for another big-hitting performance at Barrow tomorrow.

Standings: Brown 10pts, Rhodes 9, Mapals 9, Spicer 8, Esders 6, Rayner 6, Wray 6, Helme 5, Buckley 5, Cakacaka 3, Williams 3, Elston 2, Spurr 2, MacDonald 1, Potter 1, Sullivan 1, Thackeray 1.

On the bus

THE York City Knights Supporters' Club coach to the game at Barrow tomorrow will leave Huntington Stadium at 10am. Pick-up points may be added if there is sufficient demand.

To book seats, call 07958 569266, leaving name, membership number and contact number. Anyone wishing to travel who is not a member can do so and pay for their membership on the day.

Costs are yet to be confirmed as it depends on how many travel, but it will hopefully be a maximum of £15 for adults.

The day the Russians landed

THE Knights, always big supporters of the development of rugby league, stepped in at short notice to help bring quality coaching to a touring Russian ladies team this week.

The Rugby Football League asked the club if they could stage a training session with Moscow-based side Khimki, the first rugby league ladies team in Russia, who were on a week-long tour of England. And, thanks to Huntington Stadium bosses, they were allowed to use the ground at short notice.

The Russians had scheduled games against Combined Leeds Universities, Combined North West Universities and Coventry Bears Ladies and would no doubt have benefited from a morning session at the Knights' home ground.

The club's community coach, Adam Prentis, said: "The ladies showed a very high skill level. They applied themselves very well and certainly seemed to be enjoying their rugby league. I hope we helped to make their tour a success and maybe we taught them a few things along the way."