Skipper Liam Harris starred with a hat-trick in the Knights’ 36-12 triumph, which also saw a penalty and tries from Ben Jones-Bishop, Jesse Dee and Jude Ferreira as they pulled away during the second half.
With injuries taking their toll, York were down to the bare bones, but their 17-man squad all played their part at Craven Park.
“It’s a really tough place to come and get a win, especially with the conditions how they are too, so I’m really proud today,” Applegarth enthused.
“We spoke all week about backing up what was a tough win last week at Batley with another one up here today, so I’m really proud with how everyone’s gone about their business.
“I think our defensive application was first class and how everyone is just showing up for one another. That’s the sort of thing you buzz off as a coach.
“We were down to our last 17 today, we had someone pull out in the Friday session, Jacob Gannon, so we couldn’t name an 18th man. I just love how close it’s brought everyone, and I think that togetherness shone through in the game.
“There were periods of the game, especially just after half time, where it could have gone either way. As a coach, the most pleasing thing is how we just rolled our sleeves up, invested in the hard work that gets you into decent positions, and then weathered the storm that a very good Barrow team threw at us.”
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Both teams were evenly matched until Harris made something from nothing, his fancy footwork putting the Knights in front just before the quarter-hour.
Barrow hit back as Luke Broadbent and Ryan Johnston combined in a long-range effort, but Harris put the visitors back in front after reacting quickest to Paul McShane’s grubber.
Dee saw an effort ruled out for a forward pass in the build-up before Harris completed his hat-trick five minutes into the second half, his silky footwork again bamboozling the Barrow defence.
Ellis Robson briefly closed the gap to six points, but the Knights soon showed their mettle, with Jones-Bishop picking off a loose pass to score out wide and Dee crashing over from close range to open up the score to 30-12.
The hosts did continue to threaten, particularly out wide, but a Harris penalty killed their momentum and Ferreira instead acrobatically finished into the left corner to put gloss on the scoreline in the dying minutes.
“I thought it was a proper captain’s knock from Liam Harris,” he admitted. “I don’t think you can look past him if I’m honest.
“Jordy Thompson gives you that solid 80 minutes in the middle with a couple of those barnstorming runs that we’ve all become accustomed to. But you could go through 1-17 and pick out something that they’ve all done well.
“As a coach, that’s really pleasing that everyone is doing their job and working hard for the team.”
It was a win built on the foundations of a solid opening quarter, with York routinely turning the ball over on their terms against a Barrow side who had only lost once so far this season.
But it seems as though the Knights are finally finding their rhythm, with their discipline, which has cost them dearly in the competition’s early rounds, also notably showing signs of improvement.
“We knew they were going to throw us a lot of shape, and even when you’re two or three scores up, you don’t feel like the game is out of their reach.
“It’s really important that you keep that concentration about you and you don’t start getting too flustered when they do throw that fancy shape. The best way to do that is to turn the ball over on your terms and back your defence to get you out of some problems.
“We knew Barrow would try and feed off our scraps if we were getting too sloppy.
“It’s fair to say that it’s our discipline, especially when we’re defending in the opposition’s half, that’s let a few teams off the hook. We’ve been working really hard to get that fixed up, and that’s been a massive improvement today.
“I know it sounds really boring and really cliché, but it’s just doing the basics right at this stage of the year.
“Especially with some of the fields that you’re playing on, it’s not for that Hollywood rugby, is it? When you’ve got those glamour passes and offloads coming out every other set. It’s about rolling your sleeves up and grinding out some gritty wins.
“I think maybe at the start of the year it took us a couple of games to adjust to that, and now that we are adjusting to that, we’re starting to look a lot more solid of a team.”
