Heworth returned to the top of the National Conference League division two on Saturday after resuming normal service by again winning by a narrow margin.

The Villagers, who had a weekend off last week, have now won all six of their matches this season but have a points difference tally of only plus-33, the worst in the entire top half of the table.

However, while big scoring sides around them have dropped points - most notably Milford, who lost top spot after a defeat by Cottingham - Heworth are now the only team in the entire NCL to have a 100 per cent record.

The latest to suffer at their hands were Eastmoor Dragons, who were beaten 18-12 thanks to a try nine minutes from time by Heworth player-coach Brendan Carlyle. The half-back burrowed over from dummy half for Carl Potter to kick the extras.

Heworth spokesman Ken Sykes agreed this victory was as hard-fought as the previous five. "We deserved to take the points but we just don't seem to have the ability to kill teams off," he said.

"We were dominant in the first half and deserved to go in at the break two scores up but they scored a try on the stroke of half-time to make it 10-8 and we had to do it all over again in the second half.

"We lost our way a bit but still got the win and that's the important thing."

He added: "We might be a bit paranoid about not getting big scores but, as long as we remain unbeaten, every team in the league is going to try that bit harder to beat us."

Another plus point for Heworth is that their squad is strengthening nicely. Full-back Rich Darling, who had a short spell with York Wasps two seasons ago, returned to the fold to don the number one shirt, while former junior Russell McCardle also came back after a stint with Hull FC's youth set-up, coming off the bench to impress in the pack.

Man of the match was Liam Cochrane, pushed hard by second rower Jason Kane, who put in a major tackling stint.

Fellow forwards Steve Barnard and Dan Briggs, in his second game back after returning from Hunslet Hawks, touched down for tries in the first half, with Potter converting one and landing a penalty after the break prior to Carlyle's match-winning try.

Eastmoor's points came from tries by Andy Phillips and Phil Hodgson plus a conversion and penalty by Matt Rogers.

Updated: 11:47 Monday, October 14, 2002