Town, having trailed 28-0 at the interval, were much improved in the second period and restricted their hosts to just one more try, but they were unable to get over the whitewash themselves.
Nevertheless, they were already virtually assured of a Super 8s place and, while the upcoming fixtures will be tough, the second 40 minutes in the Minster city showed they can compete with the better teams in this tier.
York started the game in fourth place on points-difference and they pretty much sealed that spot – and with it an extra home game in the 8s - inside the opening half-hour after a 14-minute hat-trick by centre James Haynes was followed by hooker Will Jubb’s first of two tries.
Town were overrun in this period and saw relatively little of the ball – having only 10 sets to York’s 20 in the first period as a whole.
Good hands from left to right saw Haynes crash over for his first try, on the back of the first penalty of the game.
Two free-kicks Workington’s way then gave Dave Clark’s men a great platform but they came up against tough defence all day, Phil Lister, back on the wing, being bundled into touch.
A good tackle by Danyal Rasool denied opposite centre Brad Hey a try but Haynes soon had his second over on the other flank. Ed Smith got out a fine offload and Haynes pummelled his way over.
Two minutes later he had his treble - full-back Tee Ritson paying the price for allowing a bomb to bounce.
The ball ended in the hands of York half-back Harry Tyson-Wilson who sent out a long pass to Haynes, who cut inside Lister on his way to the whitewash.
It was 24-0 on 25 minutes, too, after centre Rasool was trapped and then shoved into touch by rush defence 12 metres from his own line.
In the attack that followed, Will Jubb, impressive at hooker in recent weeks for the Knights, went himself from dummy-half.
Jubb was one of four dual-reg Hull KR players in York’s side, along with fellow youngsters Mitch Clark and George Lawler, who made debuts up top, and veteran packman Graeme Horne, in his second outing for his second club. The latter three won’t be eligible to play on dual-reg in the Super 8s having not featured enough times so far.
York’s fourth try came on the back of another Robinson kick which was allowed to bounce, this time next to the touchline.
But Workington could feel hard done to on this occasion, as, to their consternation, the linesman deemed it brushed Lister’s chest before going out of play, handing the hosts an attacking scrum.
Tyson-Wilson’s first grubber forced a dropout and his next saw second-row Joe Batchelor score.
York had been excellent in that first half but dropped off those standards in the second while Town lifted themselves.
The visitors still had too many errors in them, Joe Hambley putting a foot in touch when fielding the restart, Gordon Maudling fumbling, dissent turning the scrum into a penalty, and Carl Forber dropping the ball on the run – not for the only time in a below-par show from the half-back.
Lawler had a try disallowed as Tyson-Wilson’s pass was forward, but Town were even more harshly treated when having a try ruled out too.
Home winger Dee Foggin-Johnston fumbled when trying to escape his in-goal area, but referee Andy Sweet awarded a dropout rather than a try as hands went to touch the loose ball down.
The second half remained more even, the only try coming on 66 minutes when former Halifax prop Adam Robinson offloaded for Jubb to burrow in for his second, Connor Robinson adding his fifth conversion.
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