IT wasn't the greatest derby encounter but, for Heworth especially, the result was the most important thing.

Their 14-8 National Conference second division win over city rivals Acorn gives the Villagers reason to reclaim the title of top amateur team in York.

However, they did have to survive the final few minutes with 12 men after substitute Wayne Foster was shown the red card moments after coming on.

Of the three games played between these two sides this season, Heworth now lead 2-1 after losing the first encounter.

A victory could have moved Acorn into the top three but they failed to raise their game sufficiently to overcome a Heworth side who, similarly, did not play anywhere near their best.

Acorn nearly took the lead on four minutes when scrum-half Johnny Waldron charged down an attempted Heworth clearance, before fly-hacking the loose ball into the Heworth try area only to see it go dead.

From their next set of six, Heworth punished some inept tackling which allowed loose-forward Steve Barnard to cut through and score a try to which winger Dave Carling added the extras.

With youngster Jason Kane and Nigel Wilson prominent in the forward exchanges for Heworth, Acorn were forced to work extra hard in defence and this they seemed to have done until close to the half-time whistle.

By then, Acorn had cut the deficit with a 25th-minute Lee Frank penalty but all their hard work was undone when they allowed Heworth to score their second soft try of the game, this time through left centre Nathan Witty on 38 minutes.

Heworth deserved credit for keeping the ball alive on the last tackle after initially gaining good field position following an excellent attack involving Nicky Wilson and Gavin Grant.

But Acorn's defence should have moved up and held firm but didn't and they were made to pay as Witty gleefully dived over.

Trailing 10-2 at the interval, Acorn's disjointed first-half showing had only been kept above the level of mediocrity by the determined work of Kenny Embleton and Alan Willitts in their backs.

Heworth failed to take advantage of the sin-binning of loose-forward Lee Frank early in the second half and when Frank returned he cut the Heworth lead to six points with his second penalty.

Within a minute, Heworth reasserted an eight-point lead when Carling replied in kind.

With 15 minutes left, Acorn hit back to set up a tense final quarter when prop Paul Dodsworth drove over from ten yards to cut the hosts' lead to 12-8.

Their hopes increased further following one of the fastest sendings off ever after Heworth substitute Foster received the red card 30 seconds after coming on.

However, they failed to take advantage of the extra man and Heworth rubbed salt into their wounds by increasing their lead with a disputed penalty on 75 minutes from Carling.

Updated: 11:51 Monday, January 21, 2002