HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS 22 YORK KNIGHTS 4
JACOB KILBRIDE, Accu Stadium, Saturday

HUDDERSFIELD marked Matty English’s testimonial with a convincing victory over a spirited York to kickstart their 2026 preparations.

Battle-hardened prop English has featured almost 150 times for Huddersfield since debuting in 2017.

Rewarded with a testimonial, the 28-year-old enters his tenth, and arguably most important, season, following the departure of fellow influential middle Oliver Wilson and after three successive finishes outside the play-offs for the Giants.

A series of crippling injuries halted any aspirations of mixing it with the elite last season and coach Luke Robinson will have been delighted to see new captain Adam Clune pulling the strings, Niall Evalds crossing for a neat solo try and Liam Sutcliffe landing a couple of conversions, having had all three sidelined for the majority of 2025.

Super League debutants York and boss Mark Applegarth will have taken plenty of positives from the hit-out, having more than matched Huddersfield through a competitive first quarter and shaded the stop-start second half, all while fielding a new-look side containing eight new faces.

Indeed it was only a marvellous last-ditch Tui Lolohea tackle that denied Scott Galeano in the pick of the early chances.

The deadlock was eventually broken midway through the first half, the first of three tries in the space of little over ten minutes as Huddersfield showcased the gap needed to be closed if the Knights are to challenge their top-flight opponents this season.

Clune put the fleet-footed Lolohea through a gap before a wide pass to the right flank gave Sam Halsall a simple finish.

Two quick-fire Huddersfield scores took the contest further from York’s reach.

A short kick from Clune was latched onto by both Tom Burgess and Sam Hewitt, with the latter winning the race to the loose ball.

The Giants’ third was worryingly straightforward from a York perspective; Evalds scything his way to the right corner after a slip from Jordan Lipp.

Sutcliffe landed two of his three conversion attempts, making it 16-0 at half-time.

The travelling York fans remained in fine voice and should have celebrated a Nikau Williams try when he was sent clear by Jordan Thompson’s offload, only for a determined George Flanagan tackle to somehow deny the halfback.

The Knights finally got on the scoreboard when another Thompson offload found the hands of Jesse Dee, who flung a pass wide right for Kieran Buchanan to feed Ben Jones-Bishop by the corner post. Danny Richardson’s conversion struck the woodwork.

Galeano should have followed over the whitewash on the opposite wing minutes later, prevented only by a gritty Sutcliffe tackle.

The classy Clune ensured that Huddersfield regained their three-score lead with a quarter of an hour remaining, tipping a short pass into the hands of the rampaging George King to drive over. George Flanagan successfully took over the kicking duties from Sutcliffe.

As expected due to the cumulative 15 interchanges named, the second half lacked the same flow of the first 40 minutes, with neither able to muster clear-cut chances thereafter and the loudest ovation saved to honour English at full-time.

GAMESTAR: Newly-appointed Huddersfield captain Adam Clune pulled the strings throughout, having a hand in three of his side’s four tries. 

GAMEBREAKER: After York had built some early second-half momentum and restricted Huddersfield’s territory, George King’s drive through the line with 15 minutes to go killed off any chances of a Knights comeback.

MATCHFACTS

GIANTS
28 Niall Evalds
2 Adam Swift
3 Jacob Gagai
19 Liam Sutcliffe
5 Sam Halsall
6 Tui Lolohea
7 Adam Clune
23 Chris Patolo
9 Zac Woolford
15 Matty English
11 Asher O’Donnell
12 Sam Hewitt
8 Tristan Powell
Subs (all used)
10 Tom Burgess
14 Fenton Rogers
16 George King
18 Kieran Rush
20 Mathieu Cozza
21 George Flangan
27 Jack Billington
24 Connor Carr
27 Marshall Land

Tries: Halsall (21), Hewitt (29), Evalds (32), King (65)
Goals: Sutcliffe 2/3, Flanagan 1/1

KNIGHTS
1 Toa Mata’afa
2 Ben Jones-Bishop
3 Jordan Lipp
4 Sam Wood
5 Scott Galeano
26 Nikau Williams
7 Liam Harris
31 King Vuniyayawa
9 Paul McShane
16 Justin Sangaré
20 Oli Field
12 Jesse Dee
13 Jordan Thompson
Subs (all used)
6 Ata Hingano
8 Jack Martin
14 Denive Balmforth
15 Xavier Va’a
17 Kieran Hudson
19 Danny Richardson

Tries: Jones-Bishop (48)
Goals: Richardson 0/1

SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 10-0, 16-0; 16-4, 22-4

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Giants: Adam Clune; Knights: Jordan Thompson

Penalty count: 4-12
Half-time: 16-0
Referee: Liam Moore