STRUGGLING Malton & Norton were sucked into the North One East relegation battle after a 29-14 home defeat by Alnwick.

The Ryedale side are fourth from bottom heading into the Christmas break, only one point above the drop zone.

Midway through the first half, Malton struck. From a scrum ten metres out, fly-half Charlie Ramsay darted through a gap in the defence for a try under the posts. Ramsay also converted.

Ten minutes later another scrum near the Alnwick line allowed centre Tom Newitt to race through a gap to score. Ramsay converted for a 14-0 lead.

Alnwick began to dominate and ex-Malt forward Ben Boothman crossed for their first try. Fly-half James Warcup converted.

After the break, wing Geoff Potts crossed in the corner and full-back James Bird converted to level the scores. The visitors then added a try from prop forward Andy Johnson before Warcup landed a drop goal.

Centre Joe Weddell scored a bonus point try and Bird goaled.

Pocklington ended 2013 with a hard earned 11-10 victory at Old Crossleyans.

Crossleyans hit a post with an early penalty, but they eventually grabbed a converted try.

Full-back Jack Fletcher cut the Pock arrears with a straightforward penalty.

Pocklington steadily built second half pressure through their hard working forwards.

The ball was swung right and centre Joe Holbrough used his wing as a foil to charge over in at the corner from 20 yards.

Crossleyans kicked a simple penalty to regain the lead at the start of the final quarter.

But Pock put in a huge tackling shift and, with eight minutes to go, prop Mat Webber was stamped at the bottom of a ruck.

Fletcher coolly stepped up to kick the penalty and his side managed to hang on.