YORK RUFC moved up to third in the Yorkshire One table after a 20-13 home victory over promotion rivals Scarborough.

Only one point had separated the clubs prior to the fixture and Scarborough were looking to complete a league ‘double’ after beating York in September.

But Lee Denham’s side rose to the challenge and are now sitting level on points with second placed West Leeds ahead of this weekend’s trip to struggling neighbours Selby.

With Tom Newitt unavailable, Chris Peace made his first appearance of the season after injury and played in the centres with Sam Forbes.

After five minutes, Scarborough fly-half Tom Harrison broke a tackle and converted his own try, 0-7.

Scarborough missed several tackles on Peace which enabled him to score for York.

The conversion was good and the scores were level.

Both forward packs worked hard and Chris Fox, the York captain, encouraged his team with smart, sensible advice.

After 25 minutes, Scarborough scrum-half Jordan Wakeman was forced off after being injured in an accidental collision. It proved to be a key moment in the game.

George Davies kicked a penalty to put York 10-7 ahead. Scarborough were given limited space with Daz Rutherford, Josh Parker and Neil McClure all playing important roles.

Around 100 Scarborough supporters had travelled across North Yorkshire and were unhappy about their team being frequently penalised for offside.

York increased their lead when Will Atkin showed speed on one wing, the ball was recycled, and passed across the width of the pitch via three players allowing Hugh Nicholson to score on the opposite flank. Davies converted to make it 17-7 at half-time.

The Scarborough supporters continued to be unhappy with the referee during the interval.

The second half got under way with Forbes tackling well. Tom Ratcliffe, the stand-in Scarborough scrum-half, was then shown a yellow card.

The Scarborough attack appeared to be slowing and York appeared to be more organised.

Harrison kicked a penalty for Scarborough to bring them back to 17-10. Davies replied with a penalty for York, 20-10. Shane Goulding, the York number 8, was then sin-binned and the resulting penalty kicked for Scarborough, 20-13.

York stabilised and Peace kicked to the corner – gaining field position – Forbes, Davies and Atkin were playing securely.

In the final ten minutes, Maloni Moata’ane wasted a fantastic opportunity to score for Scarborough.

He carried the ball, with a supporting player, and had only one York defender to beat - but failed to pass and was tackled.

Matt Hargreaves, the York scrum-half, was able to clear any danger with a good box-kick.

Nicholson chased the ball and tackled the catcher to keep pressure on the visitors.

Scarborough could have scored again but the final pass to their winger did not go to hand. He hacked the ball on then dropped on it in the try area only for the referee to rule a player in an offside position.

It had been a close, exciting, game played in front of a healthy crowd and York had held on for a valuable victory.