MARK APPLEGARTH praised all of his players after the first tryless AB Sundecks 1895 Cup final but made special mention of the contribution Liam Harris and Paul McShane have made to the ever-improving York Knights.
York have now won all but one (ironically a defeat in a similarly close Championship encounter with Featherstone) of their last eleven games and head coach Applegarth, who took over the reins at the LNER Community Stadium almost a year to the day ago, emphasised: “As soon as I cast eyes on the core ingredients of this group I knew that we could do something special.
“My job is just about giving these guys the tools to feel they can do what they are doing.
“So I’m proud of them and ultimately it’s about the blokes that go out on the field as my job is in the background.”
Top of those “blokes” on finals day was undoubtedly Harris, who landed the decisive golden-point drop-goal in extra time, and McShane who featured throughout the 85 minutes in the demanding hooking role.
“I have full trust in them as my job is done during the week and I think Liam has been very humble,” said Applegarth.
“When we got Macca (McShane) over the line, I knew that was the missing ingredient that we needed.
“I also wouldn’t swap Liam and Ata (Hingano) for the world – I think they are the best halfback combination in the Championship by a mile.”