YORK Knights’ two Pauls marked special occasions with big contributions as the hosts got one over on Toulouse Olympique in Thursday’s Championship grand final rematch.
The French side triumphed 10-8 when the sides met in the second-tier title decider last October, but it was York who were victors at the LNER Community Stadium in their first Super League meeting.
Two tries from birthday boy Paul Vaughan set the Knights on their way to a 38-14 win, while hooker Paul McShane provided an assist and used all his experience to help keep Toulouse on the back on his 400th career appearance.
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“I just want to try to give them a bit of the experience I’ve been through,” player of the match McShane told BBC Five Live Sports Extra.
“My legs are slowing down a bit, so I have to use my brain a bit more.
“It was great, not just for me but for the team. We got a really important result there tonight and I thought the group were outstanding.”
The 2020 Man of Steel also backed up the kicking of halves Ata Hingano and Cody Hunter with four in play and two attacking kicks, along with making 29 tackles in defence.
Former Australia international prop Vaughan, who joined York from Warrington Wolves over the winter, hailed the impact of the 36-year-old.
“Macca’s influence at this club is massive,” Vaughan told BBC Five Live Sports Extra.
“I played a lot of footy against Macca when he was at [Castleford] Tigers and he’s a complete professional.
“He’s got a really great footy IQ and the way he talks on the field makes me so comfortable.
“It’s really nice we could get the win for Macca…it’s a massive effort and he’s been a great player for a long time.”
Scott Galeano led the way for York with a hat-trick of tries, while Kieran Buchanan added one and Hunter kicked seven goals.
Toulouse did get over through Mathieu Jussaume, Henry O’Kane and Thomas Lacans, with Cesar Rouge adding one goal, but it was not enough to avoid slipping to their seventh consecutive loss to leave them bottom of the Super League table.
The win not only ended a run of five straight defeats in all competitions for York, but also made it a happy 35th birthday for Vaughan, who benefitted from a more direct approach the hosts took at times.
“I thought we were really disciplined,” McShane said.
“We spoke about going direct out of backfield and when we were attacking the try-line and I thought we did that.
“Vaughany is a big bloke who can cause a lot of damage. If I keep doing the job and giving him the ball he makes things happen.”
