IN-FORM York and Bradford & Bingley met at Clifton Park and the hosts tested the leaders for three-quarters of the match before shipping five tries in the third quarter in a 48-8 defeat.

York held the Bees to 15-8 in the first half before the visitors ran away with the game after the break.

The visitors are unlikely to be knocked off the top but York not only defended passionately in the first half but also forced a number of scrum penalties.

After conceding a converted try, the home side hit back with a penalty by Neil McClure and he exchanged passes with try-scorer Josh Parker before half-time.

With the slope in the second half and seemingly more focused, Bradford & Bingley scored five tries to lead by 40 points with just less than 20 minutes left.

However, York found their energy again as that is how the score remained. Apart from Parker and McClure, Harry Hall also shone.

Second-bottom Selby gave their survival hopes a huge boost with a 31-21 home win over Heath, with winger James Robinson getting a hat-trick of tries.

"This means our fate is still in our own hands," said Selby director of rugby Richard Nicholson.

They are now level on points with third-bottom Old Crossleyans with five matches left, with Selby having to visit basement club West Park Leeds and fourth-bottom Yarnbury.

In North One East, Pocklington lost a mid-table clash 8-7 at home to Morpeth – while in Yorkshire Division Four, York RI were given a fright by already-relegated visitors Sheffield Oaks.

Bossing the scrums and blotting out any attacks, Oaks held the mid-table hosts to 0-0 at half-time before they conceded second-half tries to Yohan Barthelemy, man of the match Dan Coates and Tim Lewis (2), whose second try earned a bonus point.

Baptiste Briu added four conversions in the 28-5 victory.