York (18) 30
Try: Jones-Bishop, Balmforth, Mata’afa, Vaughan, Harris Goals: Richardson 5
Warrington (22) 38
Try: Stone 2, Thewlis 2, Taylor-Wray, Williams, Currie Goals: sneyd 5
Advertisement
Warrington Wolves maintained their 100% start to the Super League season by holding off a spirited York Knights team in an electric, high-scoring encounter.
The 30-38 scoreline included 12 tries shared between the sides, with a frenetic 40-point first half.
Josh Thewlis and Sam Stone arguably made the difference for the visitors, chipping in with a couple of tries each.
There was also a special moment for Ben Currie who scored his 100th try for Warrington in the second half.
Wolves move level with Wigan Warriors at the top of the table on six points, with York in ninth place having won two of their four games so far.
Advertisement
As a quarter of an hour passed, it looked like the first Super League meeting between these two teams would be a very one-sided affair.
Stone, Thewlis and the impressive Cai Taylor-Wray got the visitors off to the perfect start with three quick scores, as Wolves twice burst through the home defense on either side of Taylor-Wray and collected a good pass to slot into the corner.
Fifteen minutes later, Warrington, incredibly, found themselves behind following a stormy comeback from the home side.
Ben Jones-Bishop got the Knights on the board, before Denive Balmforth broke away following the clever hands of fullback Tom Mata’afa, who scored his own try moments later to complete the turnaround.
Advertisement
The lead changed hands again minutes later, Stone scoring his second try to send Wolves up 22-18 at the break.
The second half mirrored the first, as the hosts came out of the traps more slowly than their more experienced Super League opponents. 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 team, and Liam Harris claimed to try to bring the Knights to within two points of their opponents.
Thewlis passed again with 10 minutes left and Marc Sneyd converted the extras to give Wolves the victory.
Advertisement
They will return to action at Goole Vikings in the Challenge Cup on Saturday March 14, while York take on Keighley Cougars in the same competition.
‘We expect better from ourselves’ – reaction
York head coach Mark Applegarth told BBC Radio York:
“Fair play to Warrington, congratulations to them. They started very strong in both halves and caught us.
“I was really proud of the spirit we showed and how we got back to it, but there were some valuable lessons for us in all of that.
“If you score 30 points in a game, that should be enough to win it, but I thought we left some soft attempts out there.
Advertisement
“I thought we looked fantastic up front, but the momentum swings at this level are huge, and these teams can put up big scores pretty quickly.
“We’re not here to be happy losers, so it hurts a little bit to have gotten back into the game and let it slip away again. We expect better from ourselves.”
York: Mata’afa; Jones-Bishop, Wood, Williams, Nofoaluma; Richardson, Harris; Martin, McShane, Vaughan, Field, Dee, Thompson.
Exchanges: Griffin, Balmforth, Va’a, Sangare.
Warrington: Taylor-Wray; Thewlis, King, Hopoate, Smith; Williams, Sneyd; Yates, Walker, Byrne, Harrison, Stone, Currie.
Exchanges: Powell, Sipley, Philbin, Tanginoa.
Referee: Liam Moore.