The Knights battled to a 26-12 victory at the LNER Community Stadium on Sunday after four unanswered tries spearheaded York to another win, despite a late resurgence from Barrow Raiders.
It’s now ten wins in a row for Mark Applegarth’s side, who delivered the needed performance to take top spot back from Toulouse Olympique, who had beaten Featherstone Rovers 24-22 on Saturday.
A strong start from York saw Joe Law gift the lead when finding space on the left, before winger Scott Galeano got in on the action from a similar position, with Liam Harris failing to convert both.
The Knights scored one more try before the half-time buzzer, as Sam Cook rounded off a well-worked move between the sticks, that Harris again converted.
A 14-0 lead at the break was added to early on when Cook grabbed his brace, taking advantage of some questionable defending to finish from close-range. Harris added the extras.
Barrow did get in on the action as Luke Cresswell stormed through the York defence, with Tom Walker joining his teammate on the scoresheet just three minutes later. Conversions from Ryan Shaw took the score to 20-12.
Interchanges from the Knights proved fruitful as Connor Bailey rounded off York’s scoring, capitalising on a gap in the Raiders defence, as Harris added the extras.
That saw the match finish 26-12 to the Knights, who remain in top spot.
The win came despite the notable absence of half-back Ata Hingano, who has been a standout player for York this campaign.
He was rested, seeing Law return to the squad after an absence against Bradford Bulls the week prior.
Ukuma Ta’ai also came back into the squad, whilst Connor Fitzsimmons and Jesse Dee missed out on the squad.
Barrow came into the fixture in-form and within the play-off conversation, having enjoyed a promising campaign so far.
They dropped to sixth following the defeat with Halifax Panthers leapfrogging them in the table, but the two remain level on points, and hot on the tails of Oldham in fourth.
For York, their good run of form has brought questions of where improvement can be made, but last weekend’s win against Bradford highlighted issues which Applegarth wanted to address.
One issue of which was the problem of handling errors, so he will have been frustrated to see his team suffer a knock on just three minutes into the match.
That allowed Walker to attempt a grubber early on, but Toa Mata’afa swept up the danger, which would allow the Knights to build.
He spotted a gap in the Barrow defence and took full advantage, scoring an early try in North Yorkshire. Harris was unable to convert from a wide angle.
York were pushing for their second and Will Dagger came close, only to be held up on the line.
Doing their sets, the Knights found their way through in a similar fashion to the opener, after finding Galeano in space on the left-wing, who snuck his way through a Barrow gap to score York’s second try of the day.
Harris again failed to convert, slicing the effort wide.
Kieran Buchanan wanted to keep up his good form and was kept out on the right-hand side, but the Raiders continued to struggle to keep their hosts at bay as the Knights registered their first try.
It fell to Cook on this occasion, for his first of two tries, as he finished off a well-worked move between the sticks. Harris added the extras from a central position.
It would be all the action for the half, with Applegarth’s team holding a three-try lead.
The Knights were immediately knocking on the door in the second-half, with both Kieran Hudson and Brenden Santi being held up within 10 meters, before a knock on gifted Barrow possession back.
With just over 10 minutes played in the second-half, Cook and York were again celebrating as he completed his brace.
After catching the Raiders backline by surprise, he weaved his way over the try line. Harris again converted for his second of the day.
Barrow began to grow into the game after the Cook try, and were able to register points on the scoreline as Cresswell drove his way through the Knights backline.
His powerful effort allowed Shaw to add the extras.
Just two minutes later, the visitors were again celebrating as Walker broke beyond the York defence to score for Barrow.
Shaw again converted, seeing the scoreline reduced to 20-12.
Interchanges from the Knights allowed Applegarth’s side to take back control of play, and they were rewarded for their efforts when forcing Barrow into a knock on.
After some slow build-up play, Bailey received possession and wormed his way through a gap in the Barrow back line, before racing over the try line.
YORK KNIGHTS: Mata’afa, Jones-Bishop, Buchanan, Law, Galeano, Dagger, Harris, Martin, McShane, Ta’ai, Field, Bailey, Thompson
Interchanges: Cook, Santi, Hudson, Clark
Tries: Law (8), Galeano (20), Cook (34, 52), Bailey (74)
Goals: Harris 3/5
BARROW RAIDERS: Cresswell, Broadbent, Costello, Teare, Shaw, Bishop, Johnston, T. Walker, Wood, Brown, Robson, Stack, B. Walker
Interchanges: Doolan, Greenwood, Gittens-Bedward, Emslie
Tries: Cresswell (62), T. Walker (65)
Goals: Shaw 2/2
