YORK ACORN ARLC suffered a scare but came through to beat Saddleworth 54-20 in National Conference League division one at Thanet Road.

The Blue & Golds started brightly and Josh Thompson touched down in the corner.

Strong running from Joe Porter created Acorn's second try on 11 minutes. He broke two tackles before Tom Hill crashed over.

A super kick from youngster Matthew Chilton on the last tackle was the lost by Saddleworth and Elliott Bulmer crashed over on the next set. Acorn continued to mount pressure and a nice grubber into the in-goal area was touched down by Ryan Gallacher just before the ball went dead.

Saddleworth got back into the game and sparked a period of dominance when full-back Robert Kilvin broke the line and swapped passes with his winger to go 90 metres to score.

Acorn rallied when Chilton was held up and Daryl North bulldozed over on the half-hour mark.

Back came Saddleworth and Jack Bradbury crashed over before, as the clock ticked down to half-time, the visitors pushed the ball wide for winger Danny Bowker to score.

They cut the deficit to within six shortly after the restart.

Josh Thompson gathered a cross-field kick for Acorn but was taken down close to the try line. The ball came loose and Saddleworth's Sam Hart was on hand to touch down.

Scott Rhodes' men got a grip on the game and Matthew Chilton found the space to score before Adam Endersby triumphed after promising endeavour from Joe Porter and Josh Mortimer.

Porter then broke the line and the ball went to ground where it was kicked backwards and forwards. Ryan Gallacher touched down after it found its way into the in-goal area.

With two minutes to play, Acorn crossed again when Joe Budd showed fancy footwork to score.