WHAT a difference a week makes. After the highs of last Saturday's derby hammering of York Acorn, Heworth came crashing down to earth with a shock 24-12 loss at lowly Rochdale Mayfield.

Acorn, on the other hand, rediscovered the winning formula for the first time in over a month as they blitzed Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks 42-14.

Heworth's defeat was the shock of the National Conference League division two season.

Mayfield were second bottom with only one win from eight games, while Heworth were the only team in the league with a 100 per cent record.

But the Villagers could have no complaints, being out-played by a side who, inspired by Steve Gartland, played above themselves.

Heworth went ahead through a Carl Potter penalty but winger Carl Pratt crossed at the other end for Gartland to add the extras and make it 6-2 at the break.

Gartland stepped his way over early in the second half, adding the goal, and, although Heworth hit back through a Jason Kane touchdown plus Potter goal, Gartland raced in again after a fine break by Rob Kershaw and, with the extras added, the match was running away from the Villagers.

Andy Proctor then drove his way over for a fourth home try, Gartland kicking his 16th point of the game, which meant Dan Briggs late touchdown for Heworth was too little too late.

Heworth player-coach Brendan Carlyle said: "We're disappointed obviously because we should have won it.

"They had a couple of ex-professionals back for this game but I think the main thing was the fact the pitch was a real leveller. It was knee deep in mud which kept the game tight. But there are no excuses. They played really well."

Any hopes Hillsborough Hawks might have had that Acorn were suffering from a Heworth-style hangover were ended in the first minute as the Blue and Golds went ahead.

Outstanding stand-off Danny Liddell hoisted a clever kick which Sheffield made a mess of for prop Carl Stannard to crash over out wide.

Three tries then followed before the half-hour mark. A darting break by man of the match hooker Johnny Waldron was finished off by excellent centre Steven Irving, then several off-loads resulted in Irving weaving his way through for his second, and then, after a period of pressure on the Sheffield line, a tap penalty saw outstanding winger Gary Isles storm over leaving several would-be tacklers in his wake.

On the stroke of half-time Acorn crossed once more, as Liddell raced away for a 50-yard interception try.

Full-back Kev Brundett added three conversions to make it 26-0 at the break.

The opening 15 minutes of the second half saw the visitors hit back as complacency crept into Acorn's play. Hawks scored two tries through right-winger Carl de Chenu but Acorn steadied the ship and substitute forward Lee McTigue off-loaded to send Liddell racing in, Brundett goaling.

The visitors' impressive substitute forward Phil Hough capitalised on some weak tackling to cross out wide, scrum-half Jon Nicholls goaling, but Acorn, in particular Isles, finished off in style with two stunning tries created by free-flowing rugby.

The first saw Liddell send the winger on a run from 35 yards out, in which he threw two dummies to waltz in, and the second saw crisp passing involving Irving, loose-forward Lee Frank and Waldron end with Isles bursting clear for his hat-trick. Brundett added a fifth goal to complete a good day for Dave Kay's men.

Updated: 11:03 Monday, November 04, 2002