ANTONY Chilton kicked a 79th-minute penalty goal as York Acorn ARLC snatched a dramatic 24-22 National Conference League win over Bradford Dudley Hill.

His kick crowned a fightback from 22-12 down in a televised match which was littered with errors yet kept the viewers entertained.

There is plenty for both coaches to work on but the large crowd that attended the game weren’t complaining about the thrilling turnaround, which left the Blue and Golds with two wins from two at the start of the division one season.

The first half proved to be a keenly-fought affair in which Acorn secured a 13th minute lead when a lovely delayed pass by Chilton saw centre Jordan Potter race in from 15 metres out. Chilton’s conversion made it 6-0.

Acorn were generally strong in defence with outstanding contributions coming from the second-row pairing of Reece Rushworth and Matthew Woods with able support from scrum-half Tim Elliott.

Acorn’s failure to take their chances came back to haunt them after 33 minutes when a clever cross-field kick from Dudley Hill stand-off Dave Halley was impressively plucked out of the sky on the run by winger Neil Wall, who touched down for a try which was converted by full-back Simon Sewell to level the scores.

Right on the stroke of half-time Sewell put the visitors 8-6 up with a 25-metre penalty goal as Acorn’s discipline started to slip.

It was a factor that nearly cost Acorn the game at the start of the second half when they were reduced to 12 men following the sin-binning of prop Tom Hill for a high tackle in front of his own posts.

Dudley Hill edged 10-6 ahead as Sewell landed his third successive kick.

The visitors used their numerical advantage to good effect when they repeated their cross-field kick tactic and the ball was kept alive for second-rower Andy Walker to score a 51st-minute try which Sewell converted.

Acorn hit straight back when Hill raced downfield from the restart to put pressure on the Dudley Hill defender which resulted in Acorn recovering possession. In the blink of an eye a fluent passing move from right to left ended with Potter notching his second try. Chilton’s conversion reduced the deficit to 16-12.

Ill-discipline saw Acorn giving away far too many penalties and allowing Dudley Hill to build pressure.

Acorn’s defence was easily unlocked after 66 minutes when supporting scrum-half Tony Williams was on hand to benefit from a mismatch in midfield and raced in under the posts for a try.

Sewell added the conversion to put his side into a seemingly match-winning 22-12 lead.

Acorn breathed life back into this contest, though, when Woods refused to be stopped despite finding his way to the try line blocked by plenty of defenders. His 72nd-minute try was converted by Chilton.

Acorn were still guilty of dropping too many balls in good field positions and wasting numerous chances. It seemed this was going to be story of their day.

But they kept plugging away and a high kick from Chilton was fielded out of the air by strapping winger Josh Thompson, who immediately offloaded over his shoulder to Potter. The impressive centre raced in at the corner to complete his hat-trick and make it 22-22.

Chilton failed with the difficult conversion attempt from out wide and had a drop goal attempt charge down before landing the decisive late penalty.