PUBS were complaining about Sky TV hiking up subscription prices for showing sport – the landlady at the Cygnet Inn said that costs had gone up from £5.99 to £75 in a few years – while York was set to be the country's new silicon valley after a £4.4 million computer science centre was announced at York University.

But it was The Boulevard of broken dreams for York Rugby League Club as they suffered what reporter Peter Smith called "the worst defeat in the club's history" when amateurs West Hull beat them 10-6 in the Silk Cut Challenge Cup on Humberside.

In Arctic conditions on a frozen pitch that caused the kick-off to be delayed by 15 minutes, Smith said that York had given inferior performances that season but that this was their worst overall result.

They could only manage an Alan Pallister try and an Andy Precious goal to become the first professional side to lose to an amateur club in the fourth round, and it was only the third time a minnow had triumphed against a giant in the event since the Second World War.

Elsewhere a legend was about to give up his trainer's licence after 45 years.

Peter Easterby, based at Habton Grange stables, near Malton, had notched over 1,000 winners on both the flat and National Hunt, including five Champion Hurdle wins and 13 Cheltenham Festival winners (two in the Gold Cup).

Meanwhile, York area punters struggled through the snow to ensure that they could buy tickets for a £50 million National Lottery jackpot.