PLAYER-COACH Jack Stearman admits that there is still room for improvement in the performances of the the New Earswick All Blacks.

Although the All Blacks are second in the Yorkshire Men’s League division one, Stearman says his side ‘never got out of second gear’ during their 16-4 win over West Hull at White Rose Avenue this weekend.

Fresh from a semifinal victory over North Hull in the Forty20 Cup, the All Blacks made a positive start against West Hull and led 10-0 at the interval.

Alex Wilkins showed strength and pace to shrug off three attempted tackles on his way to the opening try of the game after eight minutes.

Tom Holmes scored a successful conversion.

The All Blacks increased their lead ten minutes later when stand-off Tom Barron found his way over on the right hand side with a ‘show and go’.

Holmes missed the subsequent kick.

West Hull then began to find their feet but missed an opportunity to get back into the contest just before halftime following a penalty on the All Blacks’ line.

West Hull’s number one was diving for a try in the corner but All Blacks’ defence held firm and he was bundled into touch.

Buoyed by their near-miss, West Hull were first to get out of the blocks after the break and scored down their left hand side tight to the touchline.

The conversion was unsuccessful and All Blacks led 10-4 with 54 minutes gone.

With numerous balls going to the floor, the All Blacks opted to keep the scoreboard moving and a penalty by Holmes made it 12-4 after 58 minutes of the game.

It was left to player coach Stearman to seal the victory for the home side when taking a couple of defenders over the white wash on his way to a try.

Holmes missed the conversion.

“We never got out of second gear today,” Stearman said afterwards.

“Something just didn’t click and the intensity lacked in attack at times.

“Defensive wise, West Hull threw some good stuff at us and to only concede the four points was a great effort,” he added.

“It is a good sign that we can under-perform in attack and still compete at this level,” he said.

“We won’t be taking this result for granted and we have already spoken as a group about what needs to change.”

York Lokomotive opened their division four campaign with a 26-14 victory away at Sheffield Hawks.