MARK APPLEGARTH believes the character shown in York Knights’ victory over Hull FC epitomised exactly what his side is about.
The 20-16 win saw the Knights do the double over Hull, scoring their first home win over the Black and Whites since 1976 and earning a third straight Super League win as their recent resurgence showed no signs of stopping.
York had built an early 8-0 lead, but conceded 16 unanswered points to trail at half-time.
However, Hull loanee Denive Balmforth showed his parent club exactly what they’ve been missing as the Knights fought back to retake the lead, then displaying grit and determination in abundance as they survived some late pressure to hold on for victory.
“We made hard work of that second half, didn’t we?” said Applegarth. “But I’m really proud of the character that we showed, if I’m honest.
“I was a bit filthy at half-time, I believe we invited Hull back into it. I thought that until the water break in the first half we were in control, and then I thought Hull were in control in that second half of the first half.
“I thought we were dipping our toes in, in terms of our contact and our intent – we were a little bit flat.
“I challenged the lads to respond, and we got off to a perfect start after half-time. That last 15 minutes, where we just seemed to be defending non-stop in our own half through a few unforced errors and things, I thought we showed loads of grit, loads of desire, and loads of character.
“If someone said to me ‘what’s York Knights about?’ I wish I could bottle that feeling, give it to them, and say ‘there you go!’”
Having seen tries from Aidan Sezer, Tom Briscoe and Joe Batchelor turn the game on its head in a blistering 14-minute spell before half-time, Applegarth was pleased with his side’s response in the second half.
As for what he said at half-time, the head coach admitted: “It was just really simple messages.
“I thought our discipline in yardage defence – when Hull were coming out of their half – we gifted them some easy outs there, so fixing up our discipline there as it was a little bit sloppy with our contacts.
“And just sticking to our systems and not switching off on certain things, without getting too tactical, and showing a little more intent in how we were going about our business.
“I thought in that first 20 minutes, we had it. Then I thought we just slacked off a little bit.
“But how the lads responded to that, and did what they did, I thought was absolutely outstanding.”