YORK ACORN 'A' made it back-to-back cup wins by overcoming a determined New Earswick All Blacks side 26-6 to lift the York & District ARL Cup.

Acorn, who had won the Forty20 Cup final against Beverley last week, needed to rely on a purple patch early in the second half to finally subdue a spirited New Earswick outfit.

For 40 minutes, a shock looked to be on the cards as the All Blacks went in at the break 6-0 to the good by virtue of a converted score out wide following a storming Jack Stearman break.

The first half was a story of a below par, flat Acorn attack that struggled to get quick play the balls and an excellent New Earswick All Blacks defence which belied the fact that New Earswick hadn't played for a long time.

Top performers during that first half for New Earswick were loose forward Jack Carling and player coach Stearman.

Acorn, under the stewardship of recently promoted first team coach Leigh Paul-Rientoul, for the final time were their own worst enemy and found it difficult to sustain any real pressure through poor completion rates and not hitting the line from deep enough.

Fortunately for Acorn, they were able to turn things around after the break thanks mainly to barnstorming runs of their own.

Big hitting prop forward Tim Stubbs and substitute forward Daryll North helped lay the platform for quick play the balls and this allowed captain and scrum half Joe Budd and hooker James Mountford to come more and more into the game as the half unfolded.

Acorn got on level terms in the 48th minute, after several near misses, when substitute second rower Matthew Woods crashed over for a try converted by ace goal kicking stand off Anthony Chilton.

Acorn had the bit between their teeth now and, on 54 minutes, got their noses in front for the first time when experienced loose forward Michael Embleton scored yet another game breaking cup final try under the posts - which Chilton duly converted to give Acorn a 12- 6 lead.

Acorn were now rampant and on 62 minutes they moved further in front when good play along the three quarters ended with substitute full back Mark Sanderson cutting through the All Blacks rearguard to score a fine try goaled by Chilton to make it 18-6 in the Blue and Golds' favour.

Their next score came on 67 minutes when more quick hands along their three quarters enabled centre Ryan Gallacher to put flying winger Dan Lazenby over in the corner for an unconverted try and 22-6 lead.

The game's final score came on 73 minutes when Gallacher himself got in on the act, with an unconverted try to give his side a 26-6 winning margin.

Other Acorn players to catch the eye during their much improved second half showing were Aussie tackling machine Kurt Patterson, powerhouse winger Jack Stewart and captain James Bromwich.