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 spirited York Knights side in an electric high-scoring encounter.


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


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


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


The Wolves moved level with Wigan Warriors at the top of the table on 6 points, with York in ninth having won two out of their four video games so far.


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


Stone, Thewlis and the excellent Cai Taylor-Wray offered the visitors the best start with three quick scores, as the Wolves twice barged through the home defence either side of Taylor-Wray collecting a neat pass to go over in the corner.


Fifteen minutes later, Warrington, exceptionally, 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 on to finish the turnaround.


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


The 2nd half mirrored the very first, as the hosts came out of the traps slower than their more experienced 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, versus his former side, and Liam Harris declared attempts to bring the Knights within two points of their opponents.


Thewlis repeated with 10 minutes to go, and Marc Sneyd transformed the extras as the Wolves saw out triumph.


They go back to action at Goole Vikings in the Challenge Cup on Saturday, 14 March, while York face Keighley Cougars in the very same competition.


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'We anticipate much better from ourselves' - reaction


York head coach Mark Applegarth told BBC Radio York:


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


"I was truly happy of the spirit we revealed and how we got back into it, however there were some valuable lessons for us in all of that.


"If you score 30 points in a game, that ought to suffice to win it, but I thought we left some soft checks out 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 big scores quite rapidly.


"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 escape us again. We expect much 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.