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 off a perky York Knights side in an electric high-scoring encounter.


The 30-38 scoreline consisted of 12 attempts shared in between the sides, with a manic 40-point very first half.


Josh Thewlis and Sam Stone probably made the difference for the visitors, contributing a pair of tries each.


There was an unique moment for Ben Currie too, who scored his 100th try for Warrington in the 2nd half.


The level with Wigan Warriors at the top of the table on six points, with York in ninth having actually won two out of their four video games up until now.


With a quarter of an hour on the clock, it looked as though the very first Super League conference between these two sides would be a very one-sided affair.


Stone, Thewlis and the remarkable Cai Taylor-Wray gave the visitors the best start with 3 fast ratings, as the Wolves two times barged through the home defence either side of Taylor-Wray gathering a cool pass to discuss in the corner.


Fifteen minutes later on, Warrington, exceptionally, found themselves behind following a storming revival from the home side.


Ben Jones-Bishop got the Knights on the board, before Denive Balmforth reviewed following smart hands from full-back Tom Mata'afa, who scored a shot of his own minutes later on to complete the turnaround.


The lead changed hands again minutes later on, Stone scoring his second shot to send the Wolves in 22-18 at the break.


The second half mirrored the first, as the hosts came out of the traps slower than their more experienced Super League challengers. George Williams crossed to score before Currie raised his century of shots for Warrington, from under the posts.


Still the hosts refused to accept defeat, as Paul Vaughan, against his previous side, and Liam Harris claimed attempts to bring the Knights within two points of their opponents.


Thewlis repeated with 10 minutes to go, and Marc Sneyd converted the additionals as the Wolves saw out success.


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 anticipate much better from ourselves' - reaction


York head coach Mark Applegarth informed BBC Radio York:


"Fair play to Warrington, congratulations to them. They started actually strong in both halves and we got captured.


"I was actually happy of the spirit we revealed and how we returned into it, but there were some valuable lessons for us in all of that.


"If you score 30 points in a video game, that must be enough to win it, however I thought we left some soft experiments with there.


"I believed we looked wonderful on the front foot, however the momentum shifts at this level are huge, and these teams can post some huge ratings 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 avoid 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.