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 maintained their 100% start to the Super League season by holding back a perky York Knights side in an electric high-scoring encounter.


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


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


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


The Wolves moved level with Wigan Warriors at the top of the table on 6 points, with York in ninth having actually won two out of their 4 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 an extremely one-sided affair.


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


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


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


The lead changed hands again minutes later, Stone scoring his 2nd shot to send out the Wolves in 22-18 at the break.


The second half mirrored the 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, versus his former side, and Liam Harris claimed attempts to bring the Knights within 2 points of their opponents.


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


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 anticipate much better from ourselves' - reaction


York head coach Mark Applegarth informed BBC Radio York:


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


"I was actually pleased with the spirit we revealed 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 video game, that should suffice to win it, however I believed we left some soft tries there.


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


"We're not here to be delighted 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.