HEWORTH climbed into second place in Yorkshire Men's League Division Two with a narrow 26-18 victory over East Leeds A at Elm Park Way.

The Villagers led 22-4 at the break thanks to a first-half hat-trick of tries by scrum-half Christian Pollock and that deficit proved too much to over haul.

East Leeds took the lead in the third minute with an unconverted try by winger Dominic Hardisty but Heworth levelled moments later when Pollock touched down following good work by second-rower Ben Eastwood and winger Danny Simpson.

On 13 minutes, the elusive half-back was over the line again after taking a pass at the base of a scrum from prop Gary Watkinson and racing 40 metres to score, while loose-forward Joe Deighton added the conversion.

Pollock then completed his hat-trick on 32 minutes with a strong burst direct from acting-half close to the halfway line to go over unopposed for a fine individual try goaled by Deighton.

Four minutes from the break, returning stand-off Tom Barron put full-back Fraser West through a gap in the Leeds defence to go over near the posts for Deighton to add the extras.

The Villagers increased their advantage on 47 minutes after a neat offload from man-of-the-match prop Jonny Clark led to winger Mike Welsh, in only his second game back from a long-term knee injury, squeezing over in the corner for an unconverted score.

East Leeds, however, took advantage of several unforced errors and sloppy defending to post three unanswered tries from hooker Sheriden Farley and a brace for loose-forward Shane Plunkett - the last of which was goaled by second rower Mark Littlewood in the 75th minute - to leave the hosts hanging on nervously for the final whistle.

Eastwood and Pollock both pushed Clark close for the star man honours.

In division three, York Lokos were 36-18 winners at Leeds Akkies with Tyler Dawson claiming three tries during an uncompromising, physical and entertaining encounter.

The visitors forged ahead within five minutes when workhorse prop Matthew Chapman exploited a gap created by stand-off Liam Watling to round the full back and race in from fully 40 metres.

Leeds hit back with a converted try, only for Watling to crash over the line, quickly followed by a further try from scrum-half Dawson.

Watling converted both to leave the visitors 16-6 to the good at the break.

After the restart, with the wind and slope to Lokos' advantage, Dawson grabbed his second try following good work from Watling, then a fine solo effort from loose-forward Jonny Cambridge extended the lead.

Watling went on to break from his own half to score before Dawson completed his hat-trick to put the contest out of reach. Both efforts were again converted by Watling.

In the final ten minutes, Akkies deservedly claimed two consolation tries as reward for their great resilience and fighting spirit.

Top performers for the Lokos were Dawson, faultless winger Josh Johnson, Cambridge and Chapman.