YORK Knights ended their away campaign on a high as Mark Applegarth’s showed incredible character to come from behind and defeat Catalans Dragons 28-16.
In a first ever Betfred Super League season, York have now ticked off every away day as they recorded a commendable result in the South of France.
The win propels the Knights up the table too, heading into the final week of the season in 10th position before hosting bottom club Bradford Bulls on Thursday evening (8pm).
Catalans had gone ahead early on in the blistering heat, with Leo Darrelatour scoring a brace within the opening 17 minutes to give the Dragons a 10 point advantage.
The Knights responded and got points on the board through Oli Field, before nudging in front through David Nofoaluma.
However, some disappointing game management before the break saw Darrelatour complete his hat-trick in the dying seconds of the first-half.
York could have let that blow damage their game heading into the second-half, but instead they rallied, with Liam Harris scoring a truly remarkable try as he ran almost 80 meters up the pitch before grounding the ball.
Scott Galeano and Paul Vaughan extended that lead with tries each, giving the Knights a commanding lead as they held out for an impressive win abroad, despite losing Jesse Dee to a sin bin for the final seven minutes.
Positivity is through the roof for York as they approach a well-deserved break at the end of the season, with the Knights already beginning to look ahead to an exciting 2027 for the club.
A surprise in the line-up from Applegarth saw Jon Bennison drop to the 18th man, despite his impressive recent form, whilst Jorda Thompson and Ata Hingano replaced Jack Martin and Denive Balmforth in the starting 13.
Recent signing Tom Doyle also wasn’t included, as his wait for a first start goes on.
The test for York was playing in temperatures well over 30 degrees, and they took their time to adapt to those testing conditions.
A disappointing start for the Knights saw Darreletour score the first of his three tries, latching onto a looping pass and beating off the pressure of Sam Wood to score.
Guillermo Aispero-Bichet could not convert.
Darreletour soon added his and Catalans second, meeting another swirling pass and again grounding the ball.
Aispero-Bichet added the extras, giving the home side a 10 point lead.
Some choice words between the squad on a water break saw them restart brightly, with back-to-back sets quickly putting pressure on Catalans.
Field was the man to get points back for York, with Cody Hunter picking out the centre to score.
Hunter converted to make it 10-6.
His involvement wasn’t over though, becoming provider quickly again with a long, looping pass finding Nofoaluma, who had the space to level the game up.
Hunter again added the two points, with the Knights now in the lead after an impressive spell.
Catalans weren’t happy to concede their lead though, and thought they’d pulled in front when Alrix De Costa successfully grounded the ball, only for play to be pulled back due to an offside in the build-up.
End-to-end play followed in the lead-up to half-time, but with seconds left on the clock, there was frustration for York.
Losing the ball inside the Catalans half, the ball was shifted wide to Darrelatour who broke through and sprinted 60 meters, before he dotted the ball down to complete a first-half hat-trick.
Aispuro-Bichet’s conversion gave the Dragons a four point advantage heading into the second-half.
Catalans looked to pick up where they left off early in the second-half, but the Knights stood strong and defended their lines well.
Then, against the run of play, the next try fell the way of York and in quite a spectacular fashion.
Harris scooped up a loose ball near his own 20 meter line and dashed the length of the field to score the first try of the second-half.
Hunter converted again, pulling the Knights narrowly ahead again.
They added to that lead after surviving some pressure from the hosts, with Hunter invold again as he unlocked Galeano, who skipped through challenges to score on the wing.
Catalans weren’t down and out though, but against a resilient Knights defence, the Dragons had no luck by the try line.
They hoped they had gotten the breakthrough, with Aispuro-Bichet’s kick into a dangerous area seeing Dee obstruct his man, resulting in a sin bin.
With seven minutes to play, the Knights had to survive a man down.
They fought hard and withstood the pressure, with their reward arriving with a minute to play.
A Hunter interception and an offload to Wood saw the Knights start a promising set, before Paul McShanee laid a ball into Vaughan.
He powered his way through to round off the game, with Hunter’s fourth conversion of the night sealing a memorable win.
CATALANS DRAGONS: Staines, Darrelatour, Martin, Aispuro-Bichet, Makinson, Sexton, Dodd, Allen, Leeming, Navarette, Garcia, Rogers-Smith, Da Costa
INTERCHANGES: Bousquet, Laguerre, Descalzi, Delarose
Tries: Darrelatour (4, 17, 40)
Goals: Aispuro-Bichet 2/3
YORK KNIGHTS: Mata'afa, Jones-Bishop, Galeano, Wood, Nofoaluma, Hunter, Harris, Thompson, McShane, Vaughan, Dee, Field, Hingano
INTERCHANGES: Balmforth, Va'a, Martin, Foster
Tries: Field (21), Nofoaluma (25), Harris (51), Galeano (64), Vaughan (79)
Goals: Hunter 4/6
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