YORK Acorn 'A' fought out a tense 18-18 draw at home to Mirfield in the Yorkshire Men's League premier division.

Mirfield, coached by former international referee Richard Silverwood, had the better of the opening quarter and twice exploited lack of numbers down Acorn's left to score tries.

Acorn hit back with a brace - prop James Bromwich crashed over in the 27th minute after good approach play from Adam Endersby before a kick into space by stand-off Matt Chilton was picked up by scrum-half Tim Elliott for a second try seven minutes later.

Chilton added both conversions to put his side 12-8 ahead at the break.

Acorn increased their lead on 46 minutes when an up-and-under by Chilton caused panic in the Mirfield defence and allowed the speeding Brandon Harris to race over for a try goaled by Chilton.

On 52 minutes, Acorn were attacking again, on half-way, when a wayward pass was intercepted and resulted in a converted score which reduced the lead to 18-14.

Acorn tried hard to secure the vital next try but, despite twice getting over the line, they were unable to touch down.

Mirfield then delivered a sting in the tail when they notched a 65th-minute try out wide to tie the scores.

Both sides went close to a winner but a draw was fair.

The pick of the Acorn team were veteran Endersby and under-18s Alex Hardcastle and George Mosey in the forwards and Harris and Ben Dale in the backs.

In YML division one, Heworth bounced back from a heavy defeat by Batley to record a stuttering 34-18 victory over Wibsey at Elmpark Way.

The Villagers looked to have the game wrapped up after posting four unanswered tries to lead 22-0 at the break - but a determined fightback by the visitors cut the lead to four points with ten minutes remaining.

Heworth, however, recovered to score two late tries and clinch a much-needed success.

The hosts went ahead after ten minutes through an 80-metre interception try by player-coach George Elliott.

Five minutes later, stand-off Ross Varley put centre Tom Barron away down the left before being hauled down just short. From the play-the-ball, quick handling led to prop Wayne Foster romping over for a try, loose-forward Joe Deighton adding the first of his five conversions.

On 22 minutes, Deighton ran on to a defence-splitting pass from Elliott to cross, and, 12 minutes from half-time, another fine Varley pass sent winger Billy Sturdy on a jinking run and hooker Dave Hayes was on hand to go over by the posts.

Wibsey came out with all guns blazing in the second half with two tries in the opening 15 minutes by second-row Daniel Conroy and centre James Rodger, both converted by Bradley Wright.

Heworth's nerves were jangling as Warriors substitute Brad Tattersall crossed and Wright's third goal made it 22-18.

But the Black and Whites finally responded four minutes from time when full-back Fraser West fielded a speculative kick by the visitors and burst away, from 65 metres out, to round the full-back and touch down under the posts.

Elliott's second try on the final whistle proved the icing on the cake.

Hooker Hayes was man of the match, closely followed by Deighton and second-row Charlie Magill.

Heworth Academy, meanwhile, beat Bentley 'A' 20-6 in the YML entry division.

An early try by captain Karl Reid, converted by Sam Young, gave the Heworth youngsters confidence, with superb tackling thwarting the hosts on numerous occasions.

A great 40-metre break by Lewis Hartley resulted in a Ronnie Hodgson touchdown and a 10-0 half-time lead.

The second period was keenly contested, but tries from Reid and Ben Stoker plus a conversion by Dan Craig saw Heworth home before Bentley got a consolation.