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 consisted of 12 tries shared in between the sides, with a manic 40-point first half.


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


There was an unique moment 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 actually won two out of their 4 video games up until now.


With a of an hour on the clock, it looked as though the first Super League meeting 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 3 fast ratings, as the Wolves twice barged through the home defence either side of Taylor-Wray gathering a cool pass to go over in the corner.


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


Ben Jones-Bishop got the Knights on the board, before Denive Balmforth reviewed following clever hands from full-back Tom Mata'afa, who scored a try of his own moments later to finish the turn-around.


The lead changed hands again minutes later on, Stone scoring his 2nd try 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 knowledgeable Super League opponents. George Williams crossed to score before Currie raised his century of shots for Warrington, from under the posts.


Still the hosts contradicted defeat, as Paul Vaughan, against his former side, and Liam Harris declared tries to bring the Knights within 2 points of their opponents.


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


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


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


"If you score 30 points in a game, that must suffice to win it, but I believed we left some soft tries out there.


"I thought we looked wonderful on the front foot, but the momentum shifts at this level are huge, and these groups can post some big ratings pretty rapidly.


"We're not here to be pleased losers so it does sting a bit that we got ourselves back into the game and let it get away from 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.