YORK RI made hard work of it but they eventually overcame Moortown 16-8 to take two vital points in the race for the Yorkshire Three title.

If RI had taken only a quarter of the chances they created in the first half, they would have won the game handsomely

However, dropped passes and wrong options allowed Moortown to stay in the game.

The home pack were able to dominate throughout the first half and it was against the run of play when, from a rare foray into RI territory, Moortown stand-off Carl Mimms kicked a penalty after RI had transgressed in a ruck.

They went further ahead when from a scrum on the RI ten-metre line, Dave Lyons the Moortown centre scored in the corner.

A stern lecture from captain Ian Hassell spurred RI into action and within five minutes of the re-start they reduced the lead when, from a break down the wing, the ball was recycled for scrum-half Nick Ward to score in the corner.

It was now all RI, with two Matthew Yates penalties giving them an 11-8 lead before centre Andy Kehoe jinked through the Moortown backs to score to round off the 16-8 victory.

RI's title rivals, Malton and Norton, fell to earth with a bang following the euphoria they enjoyed after their Tetley's Bitter Vase semi-final win last week.

It was case of 'after the Lord Mayor's Show' as their title aspirations were dented by a 23-19 defeat at battling Bramley Phoenix.

Although showing no fewer than eight changes in the starting line-up from last week, Malton should still have carried too much firepower for mid-table hosts.

Indeed the early exchanges suggested nothing to the contrary despite some spirited play from Bramley, who showed a lot of pace in the three-quarters but had difficulty containing the Malton pack.

Fly-half Chris Creber marshalled his defence well and following one good clearance kick was flattened with a very late tackle.

That particular offence went unpunished but Malton soon exacted retribution after a series of forward drives.

Creber broke in midfield before passing along the line for winger John Dring to score under the posts - with Creber left flattened near half-way having again been floored by a head high tackle which again went unpunished.

David Webster converted and Malton seemed to be heading towards another victory. This was reinforced when the pack again drove forward and Ed Gwilliam was credited with a touchdown in the corner.

From that point Malton should have turned the screw. However, it was Bramley who took the initiative and released their strong running and speedy three-quarters for full-back Dave Cooper to score in the corner on half-time.

For the second half Malton introduced John Newsome at scrum-half but it was Bramley who struck first with a penalty from scrum-half Duncan Reeves.

Stung by the reverse, Malton fought back and Newsome touched down under the posts after good work from his pack. Again Webster converted to take the score to 19-8 in Malt's favour.

But Bramley refused to give up the fight and struck again with another Reeves penalty to narrow the gap before centre Mick Benn scored the first of his two tries when a tackle was missed following a Malton 22 drop-out to open the way for a run to the corner.

Worse was to follow when a failed Bramley penalty kick was cleanly caught by a Malton defender who, instead of clearing his lines, appeared to freeze and was promptly stripped of the ball to give Benn the chance to score his second try of the day and give Bramley the spoils.

The defeat does not spell the end of the world for Malton who are now on level terms with promotion rivals York RI and Skipton but have games in hand. Heath are the new leaders but have played three games more than Malton.

Updated: 12:35 Monday, March 26, 2001