YORK RUFC may have wrapped up the Yorkshire One title last week, but their season is by no means over.

A 25-25 draw at Clifton Park against Heath last weekend secured their top-placed finish and guaranteed North One East rugby next season.

However, York still have three games to play, which means they could top the points total Bridlington achieved last season.

And that is incentive enough for coach Lee Denham, who admits his pleasant surprise at how well his side have done this season and insists he wants to carry on fighting until the last day of term.

This run begins at Beverley tomorrow. The reverse fixture between these teams was the opening day of the season when Beverley ran York close, losing only 35-34.

Denham said: “Theoretically we can finish on 117 points, so we’re digging in to make sure we get that level. We’re definitely making sure we carry on winning. We’re not taking our foot off the pedal.

“We had a sit-down and we have done our realisation. We’re looking to get five points in every game because we want to finish with a good haul and as strongly as possible.

“We haven’t got that chip on our shoulder, thinking every game “we’re nearly there, we’re nearly there”. We can let the nerves go now.

“I didn’t expect to go all season with only one loss and one draw – I would have taken that hand over fist at the start, no problem. I thought it would go down to the last game like year.

“We’re confident about the weekend. Obviously Beverley have lacked form over the last couple of weeks. I thought they were one of the best teams we’ve played.

“They’ve got youth all the way through their line and they play a good style of rugby.”

To add to York’s good news, two of their players have been selected to play for Yorkshire in this season’s Bill Beaumont Cup – no small feat for a club of York’s stature.

“We’re a level seven club. No one else outside the national leagues has been selected. It shows we’re doing the right things.”

York are likely to give a place to some younger players tomorrow, with Lewi Jackson and Will Atkin both in contention as well as a new recruit from Leeds Carnegie, the 6ft 7in second-rower Harrison Savage.

Selby are still teetering on the brink of relegation. With one game remaining, at home to Moortown, the Swans have to avoid defeat to be certain of staying up.

Possibly heartening for Selby is that Moortown have won only three away games all season. Last week, the Leeds side saw off Keighley 38-32 at home.

Pocklington’s penultimate game of the North Premier season is at home to Wirral whose 31-26 home loss to Rossendale last week was their 10th-consecutive defeat.

Last week, Pock earned a well-deserved 31-20 win at Sandal.

Malton & Norton tomorrow host North One East’s bottom side Northern whose last win came five games ago, against Dinnington, against whom Malt lost 27-21 last week.

York RI’s Yorkshire Four Shield campaign has ended with RI in fourth, although they could drop to fifth if Halifax – who RI beat 15-8 last week – do not lose at Sheffield Oaks tomorrow.