MARK APPLEGARTH says York Knights have shown they belong in Super League by beating Hull KR in the opening game of the season.
The newly-promoted side earned a stunning 19-18 victory and coach Applegarth said: “I’m just proud, first and foremost, of the lads.
“The hard work that they’ve done and the self-belief, obviously, has shown through there.
“It’s an historic win. We’re proud to represent the city how we have. But as I always say, we’ll enjoy tonight and be straight back at it, ready for a tough game at Leeds on Friday night.
“We knew that we had a chance today with it being the first game of the year. All the pressure was on KR.
“So we’re pleased with the prep and how we’ve gone about the gameplan. I thought defensively we were outstanding.
“I know the narrative going into the game was that we were lambs to the slaughter, but we want to be consistent every week.
“We feel that we belong here. Our challenge now is delivering that sort of performance week in, week out now in the Super League.”