York Acorn finished their season with a fourth defeat in the last five games - but the vastly inexperienced squad came out on a high.

Rochdale Mayfield toppled their fellow mid-tablers 22-12 but it was never a thrashing and four Acorn tries were ruled out or stopped short.

The Blues and Golds were made up of six Under-18 players and six regular 'A' team men against a Rochdale Mayfield side who are almost unbeaten at home.

Acorn went 10-0 down after 20 minutes, but second row Alan Willets crashed over the line and teenage winger Tom Mackley converted to close the gap. Mayfield restored their advantage to 16-6 by half time. Another try made it 22-6 but Acorn recovered again with a try for U18 loose forward Tom Hill, which Mackley converted.

Scotland student player and man of the match James Morrow, who has just won selection for Great Britain students, made a promising break early on.

Kev Brundrett returned to the field for the first time since breaking a leg and got over the line, but the referee ruled that the ball wasn't grounded.

Hill and Tom Mackley also suffered to the ref's whistle, with Mackley's twin brother Stephen, playing on the opposite wing, going close.

Jack Swainsbury played out of his skin in his first outing in open age rugby.

Updated: 09:52 Monday, May 01, 2006