Warrington Hold Back York To Maintain 100% Start
6 March 2026
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York (18) 30
Tries: Jones-Bishop, Balmforth, Mata'afa, Vaughan, Harris Goals: Richardson 5
Warrington (22) 38
Tries: Stone 2, Thewlis 2, Taylor-Wray, Williams, Currie Goals: Sneyd 5
Warrington Wolves kept their 100% start to the Super League season by holding back a perky York Knights side in an electrical high-scoring encounter.
The 30-38 scoreline included 12 attempts shared in between the sides, with a manic 40-point first half.
Josh Thewlis and Sam Stone perhaps made the distinction for the visitors, contributing a pair of tries each.
There was a special minute for Ben Currie too, who scored his 100th shot for Warrington in the second half.
The level with Wigan Warriors at the top of the table on 6 points, with York in ninth having actually won 2 out of their four games up until now.
With a quarter of an hour on the clock, it looked as though the first Super League meeting between these 2 sides would be an extremely one-sided affair.
Stone, Thewlis and the remarkable Cai Taylor-Wray offered the visitors the best start with 3 fast scores, as the Wolves twice barged through the home defence either side of Taylor-Wray gathering a neat pass to discuss in the corner.
Fifteen minutes later, Warrington, exceptionally, discovered themselves behind following a storming renewal from the home side.
Ben Jones-Bishop got the Knights on the board, before Denive Balmforth went over following smart hands from full-back Tom Mata'afa, who scored a try of his own minutes later to finish the turn-around.
The lead changed hands once again minutes later, Stone scoring his 2nd try to send the Wolves in 22-18 at the break.
The 2nd half mirrored the first, as the hosts came out of the traps slower than their more skilled Super League challengers. George Williams crossed to score before Currie brought up his century of tries for Warrington, from under the posts.
Still the hosts contradicted defeat, as Paul Vaughan, against his former side, and Liam Harris claimed tries to bring the Knights within two points of their opponents.
Thewlis went over again with 10 minutes to go, and Marc Sneyd converted the additionals as the Wolves saw out triumph.
They return to action at Goole Vikings in the Challenge Cup on Saturday, 14 March, while York face Keighley Cougars in the same competition.
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'We expect much better from ourselves' - reaction
York head coach Mark Applegarth told BBC Radio York:
"Fair play to Warrington, congratulations to them. They started actually strong in both halves and we got captured.
"I was really proud of the spirit we showed and how we returned into it, however there were some important lessons for us in all of that.
"If you score 30 points in a video game, that must suffice to win it, but I believed we left some soft checks out there.
"I thought we looked great on the front foot, but the momentum shifts at this level are huge, and these groups can post some big scores pretty rapidly.
"We're not here to be happy losers so it does sting a bit that we got ourselves back into the video game and let it get away from us again. We anticipate better from ourselves."
York: Mata'afa; Jones-Bishop, Wood, Williams, Nofoaluma; Richardson, Harris; Martin, McShane, Vaughan, Field, Dee, Thompson.
Interchanges: Griffin, Balmforth, Va'a, Sangare.
Warrington: Taylor-Wray; Thewlis, King, Hopoate, Smith; Williams, Sneyd; Yates, Walker, Byrne, Harrison, Stone, Currie.
Interchanges: Powell, Sipley, Philbin, Tanginoa.