TROUBLED Heworth ARLC were unable to field any substitutes on Saturday, leaving the bare 13 players to crash to their heaviest defeat of the season.

The Villagers, bottom of National Conference League division two as the only side without a point, were hammered 76-14 at Crosfields to give them the worst goals-for, goals-against and points-difference statistics for the entire league.

Heworth spokesman Ken Sykes said: "We only had 13 players and they all deserve credit for keeping going in really difficult circumstances, but they were badly let down by a number of their so-called playing colleagues who failed to show the same commitment and support to the club when most needed."

Crosfields went ahead after only two minutes and by half-time had the game won with a 36-10 lead. They ran in 15 tries in total and added eight goals.

Penetrating runner Chris Newhall was the pick of the home side, posting two tries to boot, though he was outscored by hat-trick man Dave Pennington, with the other touchdowns shared around among Terry Reid, Phil Bannon (2), Matt Pitt, Ian Hannon, Richard Hough, Tom Lawless, Craig Pickett, Ian Lucas and Craig Noone.

Heworth's three touchdowns came through Ian Jones, following a long pass from Carl Potter, Luke Judson, after a chip and chase to the line, and top try-scorer Gavin Grant, from another decent pass from Potter, who added one goal.

Heworth play Normanton at home next week but have switched to Friday under floodlights, kick-off 7.45pm.

York Acorn lost ground on the leaders as Eastmoor stole the points in the last ten minutes with a 26-20 win at Thanet Road.

The game could have gone either way but was taken by the Dragons thanks to a second try by former Dewsbury Rams player-coach Andy Fisher with six minutes remaining. That broke the deadlock and Leigh Joyce's penalty that followed ensured Acorn's loss.

Eastmoor had gone ahead through a James Ganley try plus Stuart Turton conversion and extended their lead through hooker Ross Stephenson.

Those two tries sandwiched a Kev Brundrett penalty for the Blue and Golds, who hit back as centre Mike Embleton crossed twice before half-time, with Brundrett goaling both and adding a penalty for a 16-10 half-time lead.

Craig Miles closed the gap for Eastmoor with their third try and Fisher added a fourth for Joyce to goal, and, although Brundrett responded both times with a penalty to keep the scores level, Fisher's late strike saw the points leave with the visitors.

Updated: 09:05 Tuesday, October 12, 2004