York Knights identify improvements ahead of Doncaster battle

York battled to an impressive 39-6 triumph over Betfred Championship side Widnes Vikings on Sunday with the Knights powering to a three consecutive wins, which has seen Applegarth’s side unlock a newfound confidence.

Next up for the Knights is a return to Championship action when Doncaster visit the LNER Community Stadium on Sunday (3pm), with York hoping to continue building on their form.

Applegarth has identified the improvements his side can make if they are to celebrate a fourth straight win this Sunday, but also made it clear that he was impressed with how his team performed against Widnes, in particular their attacking play in the opening 30 minutes.

“I am really happy with it, I think it was the most clinical that we have been all year,” Applegarth enthused.

“Especially with that first 30 minutes, we’ve been getting teams into those sort of positions before and have probably been a little bit wasteful or sloppy, in terms of giving penalties away or coming up with basic errors.

“It was pleasing to see that, we’ve just got to build on it now and we won’t be getting carried away with ourselves.

“We were really pleased with it but we’re nowhere near where we want to be in the league, I know it’s still early doors, but we don’t want to keep saying that.

“It’s important that we don’t get too carried away, there’s a lot of improvement in us still so we take those lessons and build upon them when doing well.

“We’ll take it into Sunday in what will be another physical game against Doncaster, who have played some good stuff.”

Applegarth wants his Knights side to avoid too many handling errors moving forward, believing that it has been a thorn in York’s side in the early stages of the campaign.

Defensively, Applegarth also hopes to see improvements, with the Knights Head Coach keen to see his players meet expectations after recovering from a slow start to the year.

The Knights Chief added: “It’s just little things that every team will go chasing, whether that is things that we’re doing as a team or as individuals that can tweak the game.

“We’re still coming up with too many basic handling errors, so we’ll carry on chasing after them, and a bit of detail into how we can fix up defenders better.

“Just different ends, it’s all of the sort of stuff that most teams will be doing.

“It’s one of them things that you will be constantly chasing throughout the year, but at the same time we obviously want to be getting points on the board.

“We’re under no illusions, we thought it was a good performance don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to sound too negative.

“We’ve got our expectations for ourselves and we feel like there is a lot more that we can go after.

“The most pleasing thing about the group is that the group have said exactly the same things when we came to review it, so we’ve got to make sure that we enjoy what we do well, but that we also chase what we can improve.”

Sunday’s performance also saw Scott Galeano make his competitive debut for the Knights, after the Aussie winger made the switch from Sunshine Coast Falcons.

Galeano impressed on debut, with a brace aiding York in their progress past Widnes in the 1895 Cup.

“I think he could have had more if I’m honest!” Applegarth laughed.

“He looks good does Scott, when he came in to train for the first session I thought that you could tell he was well-coached and an athlete.

“I’m looking forward to working with him.”