Betfred Super League
York (0) 22
Tries: Balmforth 2, Roberts, Nofoaluma Goals: Hunter 3
Catalans (6) 36
Tries: Russell, Aispuro-Bichet, Faataape, Sexton, Tison, Staines Goals: Aispuro-Bichet 6
New head coach John Cartwright watched Catalans Dragons score six tries in a win against York Knights in Super League.
Catalans’ Matty Russell crossed for a debut try during a quiet first half, which contained little sign of the scoring frenzy that was to follow after the break.
Four tries were scored in the 10 minutes immediately after the interval, three of them by the visitors to move 24-6 in front.
Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, Solomona Faataape and Toby Sexton all touched down for the Dragons in that spell, while Ugo Tison and Charlie Staines added further scores later in the half.
Denive Balmforth’s double, a Will Roberts try and David Nofoaluma’s score kept York in touch, but Staines’ late effort for Catalans extinguished any lingering hopes of a Knights victory.
Catalans are within two points of sixth-placed Wigan in the table, while York remain two points ahead of bottom club Huddersfield.
Cartwright was appointed as Dragons head coach for the remainder of the 2026 season earlier this week, succeeding Joel Tomkins in the role.
The Australian had been on the wrong side of a defeat by York while in charge of his previous club Hull FC in February, but was present to see his new side defeat the Knights on this occasion.
The pick of the Dragons’ six tries was created by Zac Lipowicz, who produced an outrageous reverse pass to send Faataape over.
York’s Scott Galeano produced an equally-impressive piece of skill in setting up Roberts for a breakaway try, collecting an offload that almost landed near his feet close to his own try line before racing upfield and providing the pass for his team-mate to score.
‘There’s quality in this team’ – reaction
York head coach Mark Applegarth told Sky Sports:
“I thought that in the first half we were doing everything right and just lacked a little bit composure when we got to that final third. It’s a great lesson for us moving forward.
“In the second half, there were two really quick tries and we’ll have to address that, but that’s on me – I’ll look at the messages I give and we’ll go from there.
“We’re in that vicious circle at the moment where, until we learn those lessons, it’s all on us and we can’t blame anyone but ourselves.
“It’s pretty frustrating but we’ll stick together and stay tight.”
Catalans Dragons interim head coach Ryan Sheridan told Sky Sports:
“I’m pleased for the players to bounce back from last week [a 58-10 loss at Wakefield] – it was a great response.
“That was a tough game and it was nervy towards the back end again, but that’s been the story of us all year.
“We look at what we’ve got coming up and it is really exciting. We just want to build on this, to give the players the belief that we’re in games, we can fight and there’s some quality in this team.
“We’ll get the confidence back. Hopefully John will give us that and it’s exciting moving forward.”
York: Dagger; Galeano, Wood, Mata’afa, Nofoaluma; Roberts, Hunter, Martin, Inman, Vuniyayawa, Buchanan, Field, McShane.
Interchanges: Balmforth, Va’a, Hudson, Hingano.
Catalans: Staines; Russell, Laguerre, Faataape, Cotric; Sexton, Aispuro-Bichet; Allen, Tison, Navarrete, Lipowicz, Maria, Garcia.
Interchanges: Satae, Condon, Wilson, Lis.
Referee: Matty Lynn