Cunningham praises a job well done after seeing off York

They eased into the quarter finals with four tries from Tommy Makinson and a hat-trick from Adam Swift being the highlights.

Cunningham said: "It was an impressive job and I thought our defence was outstanding.

"We were also good in the small parts of the game we have taken for granted - the stuff we were good at in the first six rounds.

"We could have easily have had a poor mental attitude and just do enough but we were defensively outstanding.

"Our attack was never going to be as smooth as it is normally. We had a few people in different positions and a new half back pairing again, but we did a good job.

"We had the most repeat sets and kick tries we have had in one game all year - we have spoken about that and worked hard on it so it was good to see we are reaping the rewards.

"When we get drop outs and things like that we are a tough team to defend against."

In a youthful 17 there were debuts for Morgan Knowles and Olly Davies, with hooker Lewis Charnock and Matty Fleming also getting a run.

Cunningham said: "Morgan is still a baby really. He has a great attitude and is up there with the best in the 19s.

"He filled in at nine, brought plenty of energy, and then moved to 13. He is knocking at the door and making people look over their shoulder.

"Dougie Charnock showed he is continuing to be a capable nine. He is always going to be a long term project and will prove to be a useful commodity in the future for us."

He paid tribute to his back three, particularly Makinson who earned a rest after an hour. 

"Tommy Makinson played well and was a little grumpy at being taken off," Cunningham said.

"In fact the whole back three played well. Mark Percival had some clangers but once he gets on the ball he has a lovely natural ability.

"York never gave up and full credit to them. It's not an easy environment to come to and I thought they thoroughly deserved their try. Every time they got the ball they expressed themselves."