York had led 6-0 on their return to the LNER Community Stadium after a Will Dagger penalty and Levi Edwards try, but after Benjamin Laguerre had levelled the scores with 13 minutes to play, Shorrocks delivered the killer blow just seconds before the final hooter.
The Knights’ performance was a vast improvement on last weekend’s 50-4 drubbing at Oldham, particularly defensively, but there were still questions to be asked of both their handling errors and ill-discipline.
“It was frustrating,” conceded Applegarth.
“We definitely got a response after last week; our defensive application and desire was great from minute one to 80.
“But we’ve still got a few too many handling errors, and our discipline is still a bit too erratic at the moment for where we need to be.
“I shouldn’t really be giving a losing speech after the game, after watching that sort of defensive application for 80 minutes. But Toulouse, they’re a tough team and they’re going to be right up there in the mix.
“We’ve been taught a lesson there about how to see a tight game out. They just shut up shop, went up the field and played for that one point when it came along.
“We came up with a couple of penalties, when we had them trapped in their own half, they piggybacked them into ours and then the two handling errors.
“That lack of composure has come back to bite us, but ultimately, we’ll dust ourselves off and we’re just going to make sure that we keep on doing everything we can to get that first win of the year.”
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Defences were on top for the majority of the gripping encounter, played in swirling wind and rain.
The Knights’ tryline was quickly put under pressure from a series of early penalties and handling errors in the opening five minutes, but they soon grew into the match.
And after Paul Marcon had illegally stripped Paul McShane of the ball on the 10-metre line, Dagger wasted no time in calling for the tee and slotting over the game’s opening two points seven minutes before the break.
York were indebted to Jordan Thompson for a try-saving tackle on Olly Ashall-Bott as Toulouse looked to make a bright start to the second half but again soon found their groove.
When Paul Ulberg fumbled Ata Hingano’s high hanging kick, it was too good an opportunity to miss as Hingano’s sublime cut-out pass was collected by makeshift winger Edwards, who dived across into the left corner to score the game’s opening try on 56 minutes.
McShane passed up the opportunity to go for a drop-goal on the hour as York continued to apply the pressure, and seven minutes later they were pegged back when Dagger lost possession cheaply on the 10-metre line, with Laguerre weaving his way through to score to the right of the posts.
Shorrocks’ conversion levelled the scores with 13 minutes left to play before he scored the crucial one-pointer with seconds until the final hooter after Edwards had made a meal of fielding Olly Ashall-Bott’s grubber.
And whilst Applegarth admits his side must polish up their defence, he is sure they will come good as the season progresses.
“I thought the way we went about our business defensively was first class, especially with the changes that we’ve had to make, especially out on the wings,” the head coach reflected. “We had no fit wingers.
“I thought that was there, but ultimately that should be the minimum standard every week.
“You’ve got to put that polish on it, haven’t you? I think at the moment we’re just lacking a bit of that polish that comes a bit later in the season.
“We’ve just got to take our medicine. I’ve got full faith in this squad that we will be fine, we’re just learning some pretty tough lessons at the moment.”
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