York Knights head coach Mark Applegarth expressed pride despite his side’s heavy defeat to St Helens, with a key game-changing moment picked out.
The Knights quickly slipped to a 16-0 deficit but they showed plenty of courage to claw it back to 16-10, a scoreline they maintained until the hour mark at which point St Helens’ Tristan Sailor nailed a 40/20 that ultimately changed the game with Saints running out as 40-16 winners.
Giving his assessment post-match on Sky Sports, that was something that the Knights boss Mark Applegarth pointed to after he expressed pride in his York side.
“I don’t normally say it when we’ve had 40 put on us, but I’m very proud of that effort,” he said.
“I thought that first half Saints completely smothered us through our own errors and ill-discipline, which were brought on by their intense pressure, and we had no right to go in at half-time in the scoreline that we did and that’s down to the character that the boys show.
“We spoke about just coming out of that second half and tidying our game up, and really going at it. I thought Saints showed the class and that 40-20 was a big momentum shift for us.”
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York Knights proud despite heavy defeat
Whilst it is another defeat for York, it’s another opportunity for lessons and Applegarth pointed to that when asked about the fact the club are missing a dozen players through injury.
He said: “We’re learning some valuable lessons and the only way you get that is through experience, and we’ve got a load of players that have played a lot of Super League, and a load of players that are still learning what Super League is all about.
“Unfortunately at this level an error can cost you quite a big momentum shift, and we’re working hard every week to rectify it.
“I’m really proud of the effort that they’re putting in to get back into it, and they sting when you get a scoreline that blows out on you a bit there, but I’m proud of the effort they’re putting in. We’ve just got to keep our heads down and stay together and keep working hard to turn their efforts into points.”
After a break for the Challenge Cup, York will return to Super League to take on Castleford Tigers in a game that many will fancy the Knights in.
On that proposition, Applegarth said: “We go into every game believing that if we play how we want to play, that we can win it. Castleford will be hurting after last night, just like we’ll be hurting after tonight, so both teams have a week off, hopefully get some bodies back, and we’ll reassess where we’ve done well and what we can improve on this game.
“We’ve got a long weekend off, I’ll let people freshen up a bit, and then we’ll get after some fix-ups next week, and then get ready for Castleford.”
The Saints prove too strong 😇#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/hhGlElV5TG
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) May 1, 2026
