Kingstone Press National Conference League Division One: York Acorn 18 Milford Marlins 26

YORK Acorn failed to make it back-to-back wins in the Kingstone Press National Conference League Division One after going down to a disappointing 26-18 home loss at the hands of Leeds-based Milford Marlins.

The game-breaker came on 52 minutes when Acorn had interchange Karl Harton sent off for allegedly throwing a punch at an opponent, just after Harton had been denied a try, with the officials ruling that he had gone over the dead-ball line before grounding.

Acorn were slow out of the blocks and found themselves 10-0 behind after 20 minutes against a Milford outfit who seemed capable of offloading in the tackle at will.

Their first breakthrough came on seven minutes when Tom Wilson broke through on halfway before carrying the ball 40 metres and then sending full back Ryan Oxtoby in for a try, which the latter converted to give the visitors a 6-0 lead.

Their second score came on 15 minutes, when offloads and a non-contact Acorn defence on the home side's left edge was exposed, and centre Matt Brookson crossed over for an unconverted try.

Acorn had an excellent first-half completion rate, but the only trouble was that they spent most of that half without ball in hand, and therefore had a lot fewer sets in a bid to cause Milford problems.

Their one moment of class came on 20 minutes, when decoy runners and bodies in motion had the Milford defence chasing ghosts, and Acorn full back Joe Budd was able to send in-form centre Ryan Gallacher over for his customary try, which at least got Acorn on the score board 10-4.

Too many lost balls and penalties were blighting the home performance, however, and on 30 minutes Milford edged into a 12-4 lead on the back of a Martin Loveridge penalty goal.

Six minutes later, Acorn were punished for poor defending around the play the ball as they allowed Tom Wilson to barge his way over from close range for a try which Loveridge improved to put the visitors 18-4 up at the break.

Acorn knew that if they were to have a chance of getting anything out of this contest, they would need to strike early.

This they did on 45 minutes when quick hands along their three-quarters ended with Gallacher breezing over on the angle for the try which Anthony Chilton converted, giving Acorn hope 18-10 down.

Just as they were getting a grip on the game, however, their hopes faded with the dismissal of Harton.

This moment of madness was compounded three minutes later when a handling error behind Acorn's try line was jumped on by Wilson as he notched an unconverted try.

To their credit, Acorn remained competitive, and on 61 minutes they got a foothold back in the game when lively hooker James Mountford went over from close range for a try which reduced the deficit to 22-14.

With man of the match Tim Stubbs leading the way up front, and being well supported by young back-rowers Reece Rushworth and Brandon Harris, Acorn were sniffing the improbable.

This certainly took on the whiff of possibility when, against all the odds, they reduced Milford's lead to 22-18 when impressive winger Matty Downes caught a cross-field kick in mid-air before swivelling to score.

It proved to be a false dawn though when another handling error was made on halfway, and Loveridge hacked the ball forward before pouncing on it for the game's final score.

Acorn tried hard but let themselves down by poor handling and poor discipline.