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


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


There was an unique minute 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 six points, with York in ninth having actually won two out of their four games so far.


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


Stone, Thewlis and the remarkable 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 cool pass to go over in the corner.


Fifteen minutes later, Warrington, extremely, 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 shot of his own moments later to complete the turn-around.


The lead altered hands again minutes later on, Stone scoring his 2nd 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 opponents. George Williams crossed to score before Currie brought up his century of shots for Warrington, from under the posts.


Still the hosts declined to accept defeat, as Paul Vaughan, versus his former side, and Liam Harris declared attempts to bring the Knights within 2 points of their opponents.


Thewlis repeated with 10 minutes to go, and Marc Sneyd converted the additionals 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 same competition.


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'We expect better from ourselves' - response


York head coach Mark Applegarth told York:


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


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


"If you score 30 points in a game, that need to be enough to win it, however I believed we left some soft tries there.


"I thought we looked wonderful on the front foot, but the momentum shifts at this level are enormous, and these groups can publish some big scores 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 escape 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.