Applegarth glad to see York Knights end winless run against Halifax

Tries from Levi Edwards, Sam Cook, Jack Potter, Jesse Dee, Taylor Pemberton and Kieran Buchanan saw the Knights sail into the quarter-finals with a 32-20 win and book themselves a home tie against Widnes Vikings at the start of next month.

Halifax offered little in the opening 40 minutes, with only Owen Dagnall’s unconverted try to show for their efforts, though did threaten a second-half comeback when James Saltonstall, Jack Hansen and Louis Jouffret found the whitewash in a nine-minute burst that temporarily brought the scores back to within eight.

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In the end, that did little to affect the outcome, but Cook and Jacob Fairbank’s late sin bins have left things finely poised ahead of the sides’ Championship clash at the LNER Community Stadium next weekend.

“I thought we were really clinical, especially in that first half,” Applegarth reflected.

“We’d spoken all week about sorting our discipline out. I think that’s been letting teams off the hook. We’ve been doing some really good defensive work but then given a penalty away early doors, so I thought we were really good at that – I think I only counted one in that first half.

“And we cut those handling errors out and showed exactly what we can do as a team.

“I thought how the lads went about that first 30-35 minutes especially, was outstanding. We’ve just got to make sure we put two halves of that together next week.”

There was plenty to cheer for the Knights in a clinical display against Halifax. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography) York never really looked like losing the tie, despite Halifax’s second-half revival.

They could have added to their tally still, with Edwards denied a second try in the dying minutes by the touch judge, after appearing to have provided another flying finish into the left corner.

And Applegarth hopes that his side can use the result to kick on as they look for their first Championship win of the season against the Panthers next weekend.                                                               

“I’ve just said in the changing room after the game that it felt like we won the game four or five times over,” the Knights boss explained.

“I thought we could have gone down there and slotted the one-pointer over if I’m honest and gone three scores in front, which would probably dampen their spirit a bit. But we chose a different route and found a way to win it again.

“I’m really pleased with the character that the lads showed. We’ve got a group this year that are really together, they fight hard for one another, and most importantly, they want to achieve something.

“It’s really important that we broke that habit of losing and we got that first win of the season on the board. We can use that as a springboard, all being well into next week.”

Taylor Pemberton staked his claim for a shirt with an impressive stint at hooker, including this try early in the second half. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography) It was in particular York’s bench that proved effective in a stark contrast to changes that Applegarth admits he got wrong towards the end of last week’s defeat to Toulouse.

Pemberton marked his first competitive appearance of the season with a dummy half dart at the beginning of the second half, new signing Mitch Clark added some punch on his second debut, and both Brenden Santi and Jack Teanby had impact.

“That was probably one for me last week,” he conceded. “I don’t know if I got, not the team selection wrong, but I definitely did my subs last week and I thought it showed.

“Today, we had three pivots out there and we were a bit clearer in how we wanted things to go. I’ll take that one on the chin.

“I thought 1-17 stood up today and did the job, and I thought the spine especially offered us that stability to play off.

“It was a good day to see what we’ve been working on in training and obviously we’ve transferred it into a game today.

“I thought defensively we weren’t too far off it last week, we were just doing far too much of it with our handling errors and our discipline then coming up with some handling errors off the back of it.

“This week, we actually turned that possession into points, and it makes such a big difference when you’re being a bit more clinical like that.

“It was always going to be a little bit scratchy in that second half when one or two things didn’t go our way. After you’ve had a loss or two, whether you like it or not, those voices are in the back of your head, aren’t they?

“I’m really glad that we came through the other side of that, and then when we put the bench back on especially, it just tightened us up, gave us some stability and that stands us in good stead, I’m sure.”