YORK Acorn lost their fourth successive game, going down 28-12 at promotion-chasing Milford Marlins after being 22-0 behind after only 18 minutes.

Acorn seem to be reliving an occurring nightmare by conceding all those early points, which at one stage seemed to indicate another 40-points defeat.

Their slow start could be put down to the fact that they once again had to make wholesale changes for the Kingstone Press National Conference League division one clash.

They took to the field with a new half-back pairing of stand-off Jake Calam and Matthew Chilton, while other changes included the return of centre Matthew Woods and utility forward Harry Bromwich to the bench.

Lack of cohesion hurt Acorn early on when on three occasions they sliced their kicks on the fifth and last and brought extra pressure on themselves in dangerous areas.

Their in-form opponents Milford took full advantage, opening the scoring on five minutes when a missed one-on-one tackle exposed Acorn's right-hand edge defensive and allowed them to score a try through Craig Harrison, which full back Ryan Oxtoby converted to make it 6-0.

On ten minutes, third-placed Milford moved into a 10-0 lead when Andy Barker charged over from 20 yards to score an unconverted try wide out on their left.

Acorn were still reeling, and on 15 minutes excellent hands along the Milford three-quarters created the opening from which right winger Elliot Watmough acrobatically scored a try in the left-hand corner.

Oxtoby added the conversion to put the hosts into a healthy 16-0 lead.

With 18 minutes gone, Milford smashed through the 50s channel on halfway, and, after great support play, stand-off Zak Snelgrove raced clear to score an Oxtoby goaled try under the posts to put Milford 22-0 up.

The introduction from the bench of the experienced duo of half-back Tim Elliott and prop forward Adam Endersby settled Acorn down to such an extent that they were the better side for the remainder of the half, and in fact were denied what looked like a perfectly good try when Endersby was adjudged to have been held up over the line.

If Acorn were to continue their competitive involvement in this game, it was very important that they made a good start to the second half.

To their credit, the visitors were now beginning to make the important tackles and hard yards, and with impressive performances coming from pack stars Tim Stubbs, Endersby and a fired-up Tom Hill at loose forward, Acorn's forwards were now playing their part in several physical encounters that were to be a hallmark of the second half.

Behind a much more aggressive go-forward pack, Acorn were well served in their backs by centres Woods and Ryan Gallacher (later carried off with an ankle injury), along with full back Eddie Clapham, who gave a masterful catching display under heavy pressure.

On 56 minutes, Elliott dinked a clever grubber kick behind the Milford try line, and the prolific Gallacher pounced on the loose ball to register another try to which Chilton added the conversion, putting Acorn 22-6 down.

On 65 minutes, good hands involving Chilton and Hill put Gallacher into space and his footwork and desire saw him go in for his second try, Chiltons conversion making it 22-12.

Try as hard as they did, Acorn just couldn't close the gap and, despite being the better side, they were unable get across the whitewash again and it was left to the hosts to score the final points of the half.

Snelgrove created the numerical advantage on their right-hand side before sending winger Watmough in for his second try of the game.

Oxtoby added the extras to give the hosts a 28-12 win, but it proved much harder then they have expected after the opening-quarter salvo.

Unlike their previous three defeats, Acorn can at least be pleased with their final 60 minutes, when they showed signs of being competitive again.