Warrington Hold Off 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 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 first half.


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


There was an unique 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 actually won 2 out of their four games so far.


With a quarter of an hour on the clock, it looked as though the first Super League conference in between these 2 sides would be a really one-sided affair.


Stone, Thewlis and the excellent Cai Taylor-Wray gave the visitors the ideal start with three fast ratings, as the Wolves two times barged through the home defence either side of Taylor-Wray gathering a neat pass to review in the corner.


Fifteen minutes later on, Warrington, extremely, discovered themselves behind following a storming resurgence from the home side.


Ben Jones-Bishop got the Knights on the board, before Denive Balmforth reviewed following wise hands from full-back Tom Mata'afa, who scored a shot of his own minutes later to complete 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 2nd half mirrored the very 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 refused to accept defeat, as Paul Vaughan, against his former side, and Liam Harris declared tries to bring the Knights within 2 points of their opponents.


Thewlis went over again with 10 minutes to go, and Marc Sneyd transformed the extras as the Wolves saw out victory.


They return 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 expect better from ourselves' - response


York head coach Mark Applegarth informed BBC Radio York:


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


"I was actually pleased with 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 need to suffice to win it, but I believed we left some soft checks out there.


"I believed we looked great on the front foot, but the momentum shifts at this level are huge, and these teams 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 get away from us again. We expect 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.