A 75th minute drop goal saw York Acorn edged out 33 - 32 at Wigan St Patrick's in a thrill-a-minute encounter.

The defeat, however, means Acorns hopes of avoiding the drop are hanging by the thinnest of threads with only five games to go.

In a superb game of amateur rugby league, Acorn gave a committed display that may have ended in defeat but still bodes well for the future, whatever division they find themselves in next season.

Without doubt, this was Acorn's best attacking display of the season and, in the final analysis, it was only a period of missed tackles during the first half that ultimately cost them the game.

Acorn started very strongly and took the lead on five minutes mins when second rower Elliott Bulmer stormed over for an unconverted try after being put into the gap by a quality pass from stand-off Anthony Chilton.

Acorn increased their lead to 10-0 two minutes later when an Anthony Chilton 'up and under' was collected by his brother and half back partner Matthew, who touched down for a try before his brother added the extras.

An injury to in-form centre Ryan Gallacher meant Acorn's right edged defence was vulnerable and Wigan took full advantage to get back into the game with an unconverted score.

Wigan's ability to get off the floor quickly was proving to be Acorn's Achilles heel and one such passage of play on 22 minutes, saw Wigan drawing level with a converted score out wide.

Acorn's defence was beginning to take on a porous feel and, on 28 minutes, Wigan took full advantage of a missed forward pass in their build up to notch a converted score following a high bomb of their own.

Wigan now held a 16-10 lead which they soon stretched to 22-10 when confusion on the home side's touchline saw Acorn fail to deal with a tactical kick through and St Pats took full advantage to punish Acorn's hesitancy as they put the ball along their three quarters to great effect to score a converted try.

Acorn gave themselves a fighting chance when, on 39 minutes, captain Joe Budd put in another high kick which resulted in a try for substitute forward Adam Speck. Chilton added the extras to leave Acorn trailing 22-16 at halftime.

Acorn dominated the opening 10 minutes of the second half but were unable to score and, on 55 minutes, they were punished when the hosts went in for a converted try to increase the lead to 28-16.

To their credit, Acorn hit back almost immediately when free flowing rugby saw flying wing man Jack Stewart round off a great passage of play to score an unconverted try at the corner, reducing the deficit to 28- 20.

With the game on a knife edge, Acorn were harshly judged to have lost the ball in the tackle in front of their posts.

Wigan then proceeded to notch a 60th minute unconverted try out wide that saw them move into a healthy looking 32-20 lead.

Acorn then showed excellent team spirit to hit back with two outstanding team tries that saw them cut the deficit to 32-30.

The first came on 64 minutes when a quick 'play the ball' followed by real quality passing along the three quarters saw impressive centre Jake Calam cut in to score a try from which Chilton added the extras.

Acorn now had the bit between their teeth and, on 70 minutes, produced another moment of high quality ball work to create the chance for second rower Matthew Woods to hit the ball on angle which he did to great effect when going in for an unconverted try that saw Wigan's lead cut to a solitary two points.

On 72 minutes, Anthony Chilton kicked over a 40 metre penalty to level the match .

Acorn were sniffing a dramatic victory but were dealt a body blow in the 76th minute when Wigan put over a drop goal to seal the win.

Outstanding for Acorn were prop forward Tim Stubbs, livewire hooker James Mountford, centre Jake Calam and fellow forward Jack Byrnes.