York Acorn 30 Lock Lane 42

York Acorn were left to rue a dreadful opening five minutes against Lock Lane, which saw them 18-0 down before having an attacking set. They fought back, but succumbed to a thrilling 42-30 defeat.

All three of Lock Lane's early tries came through spilled balls by Acorn defenders, who were struggling to deal with the clever high kicks of Connor Land. Nicky Saxton, Land and Luke Tagg were the beneficiaries who scored the tries.

Land converted all three goals to give his side the perfect start. Acorn got back into the game though, when second rower Matthew Woods blasted over. Stand off Antony Chilton added the extras to put the hosts on the scoreboard.

A smart Antony Chilton kick then caused mayhem, allowing his scrum half brother, Matthew, to score a try. Antony added the extras to reduce the deficit to 18-12.

Acorn failed to close the gap further, and on 35 minutes they were punished for leaving huge gaps. Tagg raced in for a try, which Land converted, to give Lock Lane a healthy 24-12 half-time lead.

Things got worse for Acorn early in the second half, when on 52 minutes, Tagg sprinted over for his hat-trick. Land's effortless conversion saw Lane move into an unassailable 30-12 lead.

Full back Lewis Price intercepted an Acorn pass and raced in from 30 metres to make it 36-12, but Acorn showed character to score again.

Their three quarters combined on 65 minutes to send the impressive Jordan Potter in for a try, with Antony Chilton's conversion reducing the deficit to 18 points.

A Lock Lane player was then controversially allowed to offload from the floor, and the ball was kept alive until Nathan Fozzard managed to cross for a try. Land converted yet again to put his side 42-18 ahead.

The home side's substitute forward Matty Downes replied instantly, latching onto a passing move and racing clean through to score. Antony Chilton converted with ease.

Two minutes from time, Acorn's speedy winger Callum Worthington raced around the Lock Lane defence before sending the supporting full back Joe Budd in for a fine try that cut the deficit further.

In the final minute, Worthington once again raced beyond the Lock Lane defence, but was adjudged on this occasion to have put his foot in touch, with that decision seeing the game reach its conclusion.