Ratcliffe delighted with Knights

David and Paul March returned from suspension for the Whitehaven game

York City Knights director of rugby James Ratcliffe has praised his side after they beat Whitehaven 36-6 in the Northern Rail Cup.

The Knights are now unbeaten in their opening two games of the season after Sunday's win.

Director of rugby James Ratcliffe told BBC Radio York: "This time last season we couldn't buy a win and we're here now undefeated.

"I thought our second-half performance was absolutely fantastic."

Ratcliffe added: "It was outstanding the effort that the boys put in and corrected all the wrongs that they'd done in the first half and it paid dividends.

"We couldn't hold the ball in the first half, we completed 12 sets out of 26 and the stats man ran out of paper in the first half.

"We'd have expected to come in with more than 12 points," he added.

"In the second half we managed to correct that and we started going in to better ball retention and our line speed and first contact was better. We shut them out.

"To be fair it was a sloppy try to give away and again the guys down there are beating themselves up about that. They're taking a bit of pride in the line now."

Mike Mitchell scored twice for the Knights while Paul March and Wayne McHugh scored in their first appearances of the season.