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 tries shared in between the sides, with a manic 40-point very first half.


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


There was a special minute for Ben Currie too, who scored his 100th try for Warrington in the 2nd half.


The Wolves moved level with Wigan Warriors at the top of the table on six points, with York in ninth having won two 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 two sides would be a really one-sided affair.


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


Fifteen minutes later on, Warrington, incredibly, discovered 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 moments later to finish the turn-around.


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 very first, as the hosts came out of the traps slower than their more skilled Super League opponents. 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, versus his former side, and Liam Harris declared tries to bring the 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 competitors.


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'We expect better from ourselves' - response


York head coach Mark Applegarth informed BBC Radio York:


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


"I was really proud of the spirit we showed 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 need to suffice to win it, however I believed we left some soft checks out there.


"I believed we looked great on the front foot, however the momentum shifts at this level are huge, and these groups can post some big ratings pretty quickly.


"We're not here to be happy losers so it does sting a bit that we got ourselves back into the 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.