York Knights only have themselves to blame for their loss to Bradford Bulls, head coach Mark Applegarth declared when assessing the performance.
The Knights slipped to a 30-20 defeat away from home against their fellow promoted side with Kurt Haggerty’s team taking advantage of the Knights’ sloppy period in the second half, in which the Bulls raced into the lead.
David Nofoaluma scored a hat-trick in defeat but Bradford were able to keep the scoreboard ticking along before ultimately punishing the Knight, and York boss Mark Applegarth made clear the need for consistency when he spoke post-match.
“We can’t blame anyone bar ourselves at the moment,” Applegarth said in a post-match presser shared to the club’s YouTube channel.
“It’s frustrating and we’ve got to keep at it because we had some periods in that game where we looked great, we just don’t do it consistently enough and that’s what I’ve got to chase as a coach.”
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‘Horror period’ hurt Knights
Trailing 8-4 at the break, York quickly brought the game level but a string of penalties and errors ensured that Bradford could take advantage and open up a lead.
For Applegarth, that ‘horror period’ was the defining passage of the game, as he said: “When we got it back to 8-8, I thought we’d kick on but we had a bit of a horror period for 10-20 minutes and I don’t think it’s through a lack of effort.
“I think it was 11 penalties again tonight, there will be quite a few missed tackles, and we’ve got to make sure we’re reducing them and get the lion’s share of the ball.”
He added: “It’s frustrating. I feel like a bit of a broken record at times. We can’t move forward until we fix up them errors that we need to fix up.
“It was a big game tonight, we knew it was a genuine four-pointer, and sometimes you have to tip your hat and say fair play to your opposition.”
York Knights boss sets out goal for second half of maiden Super League campaign
Thirteen games into the 27 game season of their maiden campaign in Super League, the Knights have just three wins so far and when asked for his mid-season assessment, Applegarth pointed to a number of matches that he felt York had left points on the table.
He said: “Obviously, disappointed. I thought at the start of the year there were a few games, I’m thinking Wigan away, Wakefield at home, I think there’s two of three games that we potentially could count ourselves unlucky on.
“At the same time you’ve got to credit your opposition and it sows you how tight the margins are at this level.
“We won’t hide away from the fact that we’re disappointed with where we are but at the same time, there’s some good and valuable lessons to take from that.
“Our challenge now in this second half of the season is to make sure we get more wins than we have this first half.”
