YORK Acorn ARLC warmed up for a "massive fortnight" with an impressive 30-12 victory at Shaw Cross Sharks in National Conference division one.

Acorn leapfrogged above their hosts into fifth place and coach Alfie Hill is now relishing the club's back-to-back clashes with top two Wath Brow Hornets and Bradford Dudley Hill.

"It was good preparation for Wath Brow next week and it keeps us in the mix near the top of the division," said Hill.

"The next 14 days will be crucial for us, with Dudley Hill after Wath Brow.

"If we won them both it would be great but even if we only win one of them, we will be in with a shout at the top."

Acorn steamrollered their hosts in the first half on Saturday, running in 20 unanswered points before the interval.

There were tries for Stephen Mackley, Craig Fox and Nicky Caldwell, while Fox kicked four goals.

Shaw Cross hit back in the opening 20 minutes of the second period, but Acorn's defence kept the Sharks' scoring to a minimum.

Man-of-the-match Jonny Liddell and Jason Smith added further tries for the visitors, while Fox kicked another goal.

Tom Hill and Mike Embleton were not far behind Liddell for the man of the match award, but the coach said: "It was a good team performance.

"We played some really good football in the first half and they didn't get a sniff. We totally outplayed them and got the points on the board."

Injuries to Danny Caldwell (knee), Rich Warren (dead leg) and David Burns (ankle) were the only negatives for Acorn, but Hill was hopeful at least two of them would be fit to face Wath Brow on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the pattern of Heworth's season continued as they were edged out 18-8 by Stanley Rangers in a close-fought division two contest at Elm Park Way.

Points were hard to come by in a tight first half as prop Sam Clarke and loose-forward Chris Varley shone in the Villagers' defence.

Scrum-half Ben Potter kicked a penalty to give Heworth the lead in the 13th minute after Stanley were penalised for holding down in the tackle.

The visitors levelled on 35 minutes when stand-off Danny Grice punished Heworth for straying offside under their own posts.

The Villagers looked to be heading towards a much-needed victory after Mike Welsh's try three minutes into the second half.

The winger won the race to touch down in the corner after a fine kick by Carl Potter, and Ben Potter added the conversion.

However, the introduction of substitutes Mikey Rollinson and Jonny Molyneux turned the game in Stanley's favour.

Molyneux went over near the posts in the 48th minute after Heworth lost the ball on their own 22 metre line. Grice missed the conversion.

Rangers took the lead ten minutes later when, after a period of Heworth pressure, Rollinson finished off a move and Molyneux converted.

Molyneux kicked a 65th minute penalty after a high tackle and centre John Nunns took advantage of a defensive error to go over in the corner and consign Heworth to their eighth defeat of the campaign.