York Acorn Under-13s lost their home derby encounter with Heworth by 32-18 in the Challenge Cup after conceding 14 unanswered points late on.

Acorn opened the scoring when strong running full-back Matthew Gray crossed for a try, goaled by stand off Lee Botterill.

In difficult conditions both sides tried to play free flowing rugby and Acorn seemed to have adapted better, building a 12-0 lead after a second Botterill-goaled Gray try.

But Heworth countered vigorously with two unconverted tries to only trail 12-8 at the break.

The visitors maitained their improvement after the break and moved into a 12-18 lead with two more tries.

Acorn responded with a try by their man-of-the-match substitute forward Chris Richardson to which second rower Mark Gover added the extras to tie the scores up at 18-18.

But despite good performances from Gover, centre Oliver Pitt, Wesley Potter, Tom Speck and Gray, Acorn tired dramatically and Heworth took advantage.

Another advantage was yielded by York Acorn Under-14s. They let slip a 22-8 lead at Hunslet Parkside to lose 28-26.

Acorn opened up a 6-0 lead thanks to a Matthew Nelson try, goaled by Steven Mackley.

Poor tackling allowed Parkside to run in two unconverted scores before swift attacking from Acorn led to a try for Joe Clark.

Steven Mackley added the extras to send Acorn 12-8 in front at the break.

A quick brace of Mackley tries to which he added a goal, seemed to have put the game out of the hosts' reach.

Frailties in the defence allowed Hunslet to cut the lead to just four points, but even then Acorn seemed in control.

With ten minutes left they increased their advantage after Lee Acaster capitalised on slick interplay to score in the corner.

Almost immediately Hunslet hit back with an unconverted score. The subsequent tension proved too much for Acorn as they conceded a last-gasp converted score.

Adam Winterburn lifted the man-of-the-match award.

York Acorn Under-11s were unlucky to lose their away tussle at Leeds Knights losing 20-4 after going in 4-4 at the break.

In a closely-fought contest, Acorn's try during the first period came from prop Danny Whittaker, who along with Olly Hare, tackled stoutly.

Man-of-the-match Taz Fernandez, Ryan Richardson, Scott Kirk and Toby Lunn shone in attack.

York Acorn Under-18s won their home encounter with Halifax-based visitors King's Cross 40-18.

The triumph was thanks to a storming second-half showing that saw them hit back from 12-0 and 16-10 deficits.

Good disciplined forward play by Ben Henson deservedly earned him the man-of-the-match award with other starring contributions coming from scrum-half and captain Andy Gargan.

Loose forward Craig Fox rounded off an influential showing with four goals.

The hosts' tries were shared between John Tattersfield, Marc Dawson, Andy Gargan, Nicky Caldwell (2), Jodie Frankland, Paul Hagan and James Morrow.

York Acorn Under-16s gave one of their best displays of the season against visiting Hull-based opponents Skirlaugh Bulls but they still could not prevent a 17-10 loss.

In an excellent team showing, Acorn were well served by man-of-the-match Alan Denton and Mark Kelly in their forwards and hard tackling centre Matthew Embleton in their backs.

Acorn's points came from a try and goal by Darren Hay and a try by Matthew Withers.

Updated: 12:00 Wednesday, January 23, 2002