STARING relegation in the face, Acorn needed nothing short of victory against Wath Brow Hornets – but it was not to be as they were beaten 40-18.

However, the game was in the balance until the last eight minutes when the Hornets ran in three tries for what turned out to be a convincing win.

Wath Brow were first out of the traps, scoring on four minutes – second row Callum Farrer hitting the ball at the perfect angle and hitting the line with vigour to score. Full back Cole Walker-Taylor added the two.

Acorn hit back on the next set, Jake Calam with a short kick off to re-gather the ball.

Choosing to run the ball on the last tackle, Ryan Gallacher took on the line and won, touching down in the corner. Antony Chilton added the extras from the touch line against a strong wind.

Wath Brow were back in front five minutes later. Giving away three back to back sets within your own 20 makes it hard to defend and so it was when prop James Dixon crashed over from short distance.

The visitors extended the lead on 17 minutes, as Acorn’s defence – lacking enthusiasm and being slow to move up – allowed the opposition to play with confidence.

Second row Luke Davidson was the recipient of that belief, scoring under the posts.

Acorn had the better of the game for the remainder of the first half, managing to peg back the score on the half hour. Antony Chilton followed his neat grubber into the in goal area to touch down and added the extras to bring the score to 12-18 at the break.

Acorn continued their dominance into the second half but failed to turn the pressure into points. After giving away two consecutive penalties they gifted field position from which the opposition took advantage.

A quick play the ball into the hands of prop Rich Huby shook the posts as he touched down.

Acorn responded five minutes later when centre Ryan Gallacher broke the line with a neat dummy and offloaded to winger Jack Stewart who raced for the line to score despite the attentions of his opposite number.

Acorn continued to impress, keeping Wath Brow pegged in their 20 for a considerable time, but being unable however to find a key to unlock the defence.

Frustration crept in, as Acorn gave away penalties that again gifted territory to the visitors. As the game entered the last eight minutes there was still a chance for the hosts.

However, the youthful scrum half, 17-year-old Dean Rooney, split the defence and was through to the line to score.

Wath Brow’s spirits lifted as the win was in sight, and a quick play the ball was too much for Acorn as a quick ball out wide was kicked on by the winger for Luke Davidson to collect and score.

As the game drew to an end Acorn fell off tackles allowing James Dixon to walk through for his second try of the game and end the match.

Wath Brow stand-off Fran King guided his team with confidence throughout and was the platform from which all their attack came from.

He was awarded the man of the match award for his efforts. Acorn’s man of the match was Gallacher who troubled the visitors all afternoon.