“IF you go back even a few months, we’d have probably lost that!”

So conceded Mark Applegarth as York Knights took a huge step towards securing a coveted play-off place with a thrilling 26-24 victory at top six rivals Sheffield Eagles.

The scoreline was in the end tighter than the Knights had hoped for, having built up a 14-point lead only to concede two quick-fire tries from Matty Dawson-Jones and Tyler Dickinson inside the final 10 minutes.

But their defence held firm in a nail-biting conclusion under the floodlights, moving them up to fourth place ahead of a mouth-watering home clash with fellow top six hopefuls Featherstone Rovers next Sunday.

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“I’m sure it was a cracking match up for a neutral, it wasn’t a cracking match up for a coach!” laughed Applegarth, who has overseen a remarkable turnaround that has taken York from a side flirting with relegation to play-off contenders.

“I’ll be honest, I thought we started pretty poor giving those three penalties away; I don’t think we touched the ball for that first eight minutes.

“We got ourselves back into the game and then I thought Sheffield were feeding off our scraps, I thought we were a bit loose in certain areas.

“And then at half time, we addressed that and started really well. We just kind of imploded for that 10 or 15-minute period.

“It’s a bit of a bittersweet one because I’m really happy that we managed to show that mental fortitude to overcome that and then grind out the win against a very good Sheffield team, but at the same time I’m frustrated that we allowed them back into the game.

“When we went three scores up, that should have been it. It should have been dead and buried.

“You’ve got to give credit to Sheffield, they’ve got some great players in their team, but at the same time we’ve got some fix-ups that we need to put in place ready for next week.”

The Eagles, well-known for their fast starts, did just that, taking advantage of a trio of penalties close to the Knights’ line to send loose forward Titus Gwaze across to the left of the posts with just four minutes on the clock.

It was one-way traffic when Cory Aston hit a 40/20 from the restart but York crucially hit back against the run of play, Ata Hingano picking off a poor pass before running the length of the field to score.

The Tongan half-back then fashioned tries for both makeshift full-back Nikau Williams and returning captain Liam Harris off the back of penalties to open up a 12-point gap by the half-hour.

With three ex-Knights among Sheffield’s backs, it was inevitable that one would find the whitewash, with James Glover evading some desperate try-line defence to score against his former club shortly before half time to bring the scores back within six.

As a result, the first try after the break was crucial, and it fell to the visitors after another Sheffield error, Harris racing onto his own grubber to score beneath the posts.

Ata Hingano was among York's standouts, scoring before setting up two tries and winning the decisive penalty late on.Ata Hingano was among York's standouts, scoring before setting up two tries and winning the decisive penalty late on. (Image: Craig Hawkhead Photography)York eked out their advantage again from the tee after a soft penalty given against Sheffield prop Eddie Battye, and that proved to be the difference.

The Eagles found a late wind in their sails, with Dawson-Jones’ left-wing break fashioning a chance for his side to pull points back, the winger combining with Glover and Joel Farrell to convert Anthony Thackeray’s cross-field chip.

And with the Knights playing a high line, Thackeray then raced clear from 40 metres before playing in the supporting Dickinson to score.

York though rallied in a test of their mental strength to hold on to a crucial two points.

“Listen, nobody’s happy with that second half in terms of how we’ve allowed a team like Sheffield back into it,” Applegarth admitted. “But at the same time, we’ve still managed to grind that win out.

“If you go back a few months, we’d have probably lost that! We wouldn’t have had that mental strength to see it through.

“There are lessons to be learned and we’ve got to learn them quick, but at the same time I’m really proud of the effort of the lads to make sure that it did stay a win, and we didn’t end up costing ourselves pretty heavily.”