YORK Acorn ARLC moved up to fifth in National Conference League division one with a 30-14 home victory over Millom.

The Thanet Road match was an arm wrestle for the opening 14 minutes, but Acorn’s Antony Chilton kicked a 40-20 to tip the balance the way of the hosts.

From the resulting scrum, Acorn’s Ryan Gallacher forced his way over for an unconverted try despite the attention of three tacklers.

The Blue and Golds then forced a goal-line drop out but were unable to take advantage from the extra set, Tim Stubbs losing possession with a try beckoning.

Millom were unable to clear their lines and an early knock on gave Acorn the ball back. Full-back Joe Budd scooted across the line to be tackled. Gallacher then slipped a pass to winger Matthew Woods to make it 8-0 just before half-time.

After the break, Acorn came out stronger. Davey Burns, who was huge in defence, led the way with a barnstorming run to make good yards in the first minute.

Chilton kicked over the top and, although Millom gathered the ball, it was stolen by Gallacher. His neat offload put Woods in for his second try, converted by Chilton.

After the restart, Budd made a great drive through three would-be tacklers, releasing the ball to Gallacher. A superb offload out of the back door sent Woods in for his hat-trick score.

On 50 minutes, Acorn again made use of some fancy footwork as a kick from Chilton on the fifth tackle bounced free, with Gallacher hacking on and picking up the ball for his second.

Millom showed some resolve and forced their way in for a score on 62 minutes, Chris Warren outwitting the defence to make it 24-4.

Acorn's forwards dominated the next ten minutes, with Daryl North, Josh Mortimer and Stubbs making good yards.

The endeavour was matched equally by hard work from Craig Wilson and Ethan Kelly from Millom.

With ten minutes left to play, Acorn were camped on Millom's line and hooker Nick Speck tunnelled his way under the sticks to put Acorn 30-4 in front.

The vissitors scored twice in the last eight minutes, firstly Lee Edmondson crossing for a try converted by Paul Evans and the game finished with Ian Armstrong touching down.

The Acorn man of the match award went to Gallacher.