NEW Earswick All Blacks ARLC warmed up for their play-off semi-final clash against York Acorn 'A' by beating them 41-12 in the last game of the regular season.

The result confirmed All Blacks as table-toppers in Yorkshire Men's League division one, while city rivals Acorn still finished fourth - having bounced back markedly from losing their opening seven matches of the season.

The teams will now meet in the play-offs again next weekend, with New Earswick this time having home advantage.

All Blacks player-coach Jack Stearman said on social media: "What a day and what a result. We scored some fantastic tries and played really well.

"We're league winners, but this is the end of one chapter and next week is the start of a new one - the play-offs."

Acorn started the brighter, bossing the opening exchanges, and when the All Blacks defence was slow to cover, Karl Harton found space to open the scoring, Antony Chilton converting.

However, the promising beginning was short-lived and, via a string of infringements, Acorn gave the All Blacks all the territory they needed to level things up.

Tom Barron was able to touch down, despite seeming to be held up, and Tom Holmes added the two.

Holmes put All Blacks ahead on 17 minutes with an easy penalty in front of the posts, with Acorn again falling foul of the referee.

New Earswick then had the best of the last 20 minutes of the first half, crossing three times, twice from last-tackle kicks.

Firstly Acorn failed to gather the ball from a towering kick, and Liam Gargan was the first to react and touch the ball down, Holmes converting.

Then a second equally high kick was left to bounce on the advice of the Acorn players, only for it to go back in the opposite direction into the arms of the on-running Will Holmes, with no defence to stop him.

With three minutes before half-time, veteran prop Jack Stearman powered through from 30 metres to score beside the uprights.

Tom Holmes added the two for a 24-6 interval lead.

Acorn will wonder why they were unable to maintain the composure they had at the beginning of the first half, especially when they began the second the same way.

Chilton lost the ball over the line before old boy Nic Caldwell crashed over from close range to visibly lift the hosts.

However, the chance to pull something back was again short-lived after another mix-up on the last tackle gave Gargan the chance to score at the other end.

All Blacks then kept Acorn out for the rest of the half, adding a Tom Holmes drop goal with 10 minutes to go, and a try two minutes later through full-back Ewan Coverdale, who found space from a quick play-the-ball.

As the clock ticked down, Acorn's fatigue became noticeable, and the defence were unable to prevent loose-forward Sean Malarkey from putting the icing on the cake.

On this performance, the All Blacks will be confident of bagging a place in the division one final.