THERE was no pre-Christmas cheer for Heworth as they crashed to an unexpected and controversial defeat at Cottingham Tigers.

The 25-0 loss was particularly galling as it saw the Villagers - who had a man sent off, with Selby referee Chris Hatton the centre of attention for some dubious decisions - drop out of the top two, to be replaced by Milford.

Furthermore, both the Marlins, who hammered Hillsborough Hawks 66-0, and fourth-placed Castleford Panthers will have the chance next weekend to take advantage of games in hand over Heworth, who are without a fixture.

Villagers spokesman Ken Sykes said: "They were the better side and we were below par but they got some terrible decisions from the referee. It was a joke really.

"The first two tries were from blatant forward passes and the third was clearly offside. The game could have been very different had we got some rub of the green but it ended up one of those days."

Cottingham, fourth from bottom, won the game by half-time after scoring 19 points without reply.

Teenager Andy Ellis opened the scoring on ten minutes after a break by Richard Anderson, Alex Benson adding the extras. Then Ellis turned provider as he burst through and passed to the supporting Anderson, who fed Gary Mowforth to score his first of two tries. Benson again goaled.

Anderson was also involved in the next try as his chip over the Villagers' defence saw Mowforth notch the Tigers' third touchdown, with Benson completing a hat-trick of conversions before Anderson himself got on the scoresheet with a field goal.

The second half of what was often an abrasive match saw Carl Barrow and Sam Clarke along with two Tigers players sin-binned, and second-row Barrow was later red-carded.

Great Britain Amateurs full-back Lee Moreton came off the bench for his Tigers debut after joining from West Hull and made his mark by setting up the last try of the match with an angled run that resulted in Phil Musgrave crossing in the corner. Benson added his fourth goal to complete the scoring.

Wayne Foster, Nigel Wilson and man of the match Liam Cochrane shone in the forwards with Brendan Carlyle and Clarke doing likewise in the backs for Heworth, but their efforts came to nothing.

A second-half fight-back was in vain as York Acorn's mini revival ended with a 24-14 home defeat by Widnes St Maries.

As in recent games, Acorn started slowly and a poor first half ended 20-2, with Widnes on course to follow up their early season thrashing with another 40-point haul.

However, the Blue and Golds, stirred by their half-time team talk, made a game of it and in the end were unlucky to get nothing.

Widnes took the lead when second-rower Carl Leach capitalised on the visitors' ability to keep the ball alive.

Fluent rugby was keeping Acorn's defence preoccupied but they didn't buckle and cut the Widnes lead with a penalty by full-back Kev Brundrett. However, within a minute their defence went to sleep, allowing loose-forward Matt Viggers to go through a huge gap after receiving an inside ball.

Centre Mark Keenan added the extras and Acorn's plight worsened when a kick through close to the line ricocheted off their defence and was picked up by Widnes winger Matt Giblin, who - despite looking clearly offside - saw his touchdown allowed by the referee.

Acorn appeared to be affected by the decision and Widnes took further advantage when second-rower Jamie Rowlands exploited half-hearted tackles to score.

Stand-off Adam Flannagan converted and Widnes were sitting pretty at half time.

But Acorn came back out a different proposition and were the better side after the break, with substitute hooker Dean Kilbride making an instant impact by following up his own chip to score.

Brundrett converted and, with loose-forward Lee Frank marking his return from suspension with a solid display, substitute forward Gareth Barron running strongly, man of the match second-rower Dave Norman working overtime and prop Adam Endersby continuing his fine form, Acorn took control.

Indeed, a comeback seemed increasingly likely, especially after the lively Jon Waldron cut through to send centre Steven Irving rampaging over with 22 minutes remaining, Brundrett converting.

Trailing 14-20, the Blue and Golds were back in it and twice Barron burst through down the left only to see his excellent off-loads go to ground - with Acorn complaining on both occasions that their supporting player was being held back off the ball.

The rub of the green was against Acorn and their chances of securing a share of the spoils were ended late on when Widnes centre Karl O'Doherty crossed for a killer final try.

Updated: 11:53 Monday, December 23, 2002