YORK City Knights Ladies gave their best defensive performance of the season against title-chasing St Helens but it wasn't enough to garner that elusive first win of their Women's Super League campaign.

Head coach Daryl North admitted the Knights' attacking play left a lot to be desired but was full of praise for their efforts without the ball, especially in the second half, as they held second-placed Saints to a 26-6 final scoreline at Haxby Road.

The Knights remain at the foot of the table but the encounter gave further evidence that the inexperienced outfit can compete in the elite tier in women's rugby league.

"It could have been better to be fair," said North when asked if this was the best performance of term.

"It was probably the best defensive performance, but we didn't have a lot in attack.

"Maybe we were concentrating so much on defence and not conceding points that we weren't really with it with the ball.

"Our attacking has been good for most of the season and defensively we've been not so good. It was the other way round this time."

Ashleigh Hyde gave York an early lead after forcing an error during a Saints attack then picking up the loose ball and sprinting 80 metres to the other end, Ellie Hendry converting.

However, the Knights repeatedly turned the ball over for much of the first half and gave too many penalties away, too, allowing the visitors to open a 20-6 lead.

The second half was a tighter affair, Saints bagging the only try of the period.

North added: "We made sloppy decisions in the first half, gave away penalties and basically gave them a lot of possession.

"The second half was different. We still didn't do much with the ball but we kept hold of it better and gave few penalties away."

The Knights Ladies are next in action on Sunday, August 12, with a home friendly against Keighley Albion before resuming their Super League campaign at home to fellow strugglers Bradford Bulls on August 19 - a game North has targeted as a potential success.