Warrington hold off York to maintain 100% start

Betfred Super League

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 off a spirited York Knights side in an electric high-scoring encounter.

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

Josh Thewlis and Sam Stone arguably 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 six points, with York in ninth having won two out of their four games so far.

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

Stone, Thewlis and the impressive Cai Taylor-Wray gave the visitors the perfect start with three quick scores, as the Wolves twice barged through the home defence either side of Taylor-Wray collecting a neat pass to go over in the corner.

Fifteen minutes later, Warrington, incredibly, found themselves behind following a storming resurgence from the home side.

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

The lead changed hands again minutes later, Stone scoring his second try to send 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 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 side, and Liam Harris claimed tries to bring the Knights within two points of their opponents.

Thewlis went over again with 10 minutes to go, and Marc Sneyd converted 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 same competition.

York head coach Mark Applegarth told BBC Radio York:

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

"I was really proud of the spirit we showed and how we got back into 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 tries out there.

"I thought we looked fantastic on the front foot, but the momentum shifts at this level are massive, and these teams can post 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 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.

Referee: Liam Moore.