York Knights 30-38 Warrington Wolves: Match Report

York Knights lost 38-30 to Warrington Wolves in a fiercely contested game in the Betfred Super League at the LNER Community Stadium.

After trailing by 16 points in almost as many minutes, the Knights fought back to take a two point lead late in the first half.

Despite Warrington taking control of the game again in the second half, another fight back brought Mark Applegarth’s team to within two points again, only for the Wolves to hold off a spirited York side.

The first Warrington try came after just five minutes, when Sam Stone took a short ball to dive over from close range. Sneyd converted.

As they continued to enjoy the better of the early territory and possession, their speed and aggression meant York had to work hard when they had the ball in hand.

The Wolves were in again just five minutes later, when Josh Thewlis took a ball from Cai Taylor-Wray to go over in the corner, before Taylor-Wray himself scored, accelerating through a gap in the York defence. Sneyd converted, and Warrington were scoring at almost a point a minute.

Warrington’s attack was relentless, and York were struggling to get out of their own half when they did manage to have a set.

Twenty minutes passed before the Knights got into the Warrington 10 metre area, and once there, they scored and triggered a comeback. A looping pass from Liam Harris put Ben Jones-Bishop in at the corner, and just three minutes later, Toa Mata’afa broke clear to send the supporting Denive Balmforth in. Both were converted by Danny Richardson and York were back to within four points.

When Mata’afa finished off a move involving Paul McShane and Harris, converted by Richardson, York went ahead in an incredible turn around.

However, that lead didn’t last long, as Warrington punished a York mistake with Stone crossing for a second try, converted again by Sneyd, to give them a four point lead at half time.

It was the Wolves who scored first after the break, when George Williams worked his way in. Sneyd’s conversion hit the post. When Ben Currie scored soon after, they were asserting some authority again.

However, the Knights weren’t done. A lengthy spell of keeping the ball alive in front of the Warrington line ended with Paul Vaughan going in beneath the posts for a converted try against his former club.

Again the Knights pushed on, and when Liam Harris got on the end of a nicely weighted Richardson grubber kick, Richardson’s conversion closed the gap to just two points with less than 15 minutes to go.

The see-saw nature of the scoring pattern continued. This time, Stone sent Thewlis in for a second to extend Warrington’s lead.

It looked like York would hit back again after a 60 metre break from Jones-Bishop set York up deep in the Warrington half. After Mata’afa went close, some strong Wolves defence denied Nofoaluma what looked to be a certain score.

Despite fighting right until the end, the Knights couldn’t close the gap one more time before the hooter sounded.

York: Mata’afa, Jones-Bishop, Wood, Williams, Nofoaluma, Richardson, Harris, Martin, McShane, Vaughan, Field, Dee, Thompson

Subs (all used): Balmforth, Va’a, Sangare, Griffin

18th Player: Vuniyayawa

Tries: Jones-Bishop (20), Balmforth (23), Mata’afa (30), Vaughan (60), Harris (66)

Goals: Richardson (5/5)

Warrington: Taylor-Wray, Taylor, King, Hopoate, Smith, Williams, Sneyd, Yates, Walker, Byrne, Harrison, Stone, Currie

Subs (all used): Powell, Sipley, Philbin, Tanganoa

18th Player: Smith

Tries: Stone (5,32), Thewlis (10,70), Taylor-Wray (14), Williams (48), Currie (56)

Goals: Sneyd (5/7)

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