YORK RUFC closed the gap on rivals West Leeds to just a single point after a significant weekend in Yorkshire One.

Third placed York had travelled to North Ribblesdale on a clear mission to secure a bonus point win.

They not only achieved their objective, winning 36-12, but second-placed West Leeds also suffered defeat at Beverley.

Struggling North Ribblesdale were in no mood to surrender easily and the first 10 minutes of the game saw York under constant pressure.

York looked lethargic and were lucky not to fall behind as two early penalties were missed.

They took the lead after 15 minutes following some scrappy play.

Scrum half Will Atkin broke left in mid field and the ball moved along the line to Tom Newitt who used his electric pace to beat two defenders before chipping over the last man and touching down. Fullback George Davies converted.

From the re-start, skipper Chris Fox broke forward and made a good 50 metres before throwing a hopeful pass to the support that was deemed forward.

However, almost immediately afterwards, Fox again drove forward and found Newitt who fed winger Hugh Nicholson who sped past the defence and touched down. The conversion just drifted past the post.

Fox again took the re-start and burst through several tackles before sending winger Toby Atkin flying for the line. He was hauled down just short but York were dominant. Scrum half Atkin was also brought down just short after a neat blindside move.

A touch of carelessness saw York penalised for not releasing. This allowed the very efficient North Ribblesdale stand-off to drive play towards the York line.

From the ensuing lineout, a strong running centre made a good break with equally good support resulting in a try.

Stung by this setback, Newitt broke down the wing, passed inside to Nicholson, who was held up just short and the danger cleared.

However, from the ensuing lineout Parker shrugged off some weak tackles and scored under the posts. Davies converted (5-19).

By now, York were dominant and scrum half Atkin found Liam Hessay on his shoulder to score the bonus point try under the posts. Davies converted.

Just before the interval, York’s Darren Rutherford was binned for an alleged high tackle. From the resultant five yard scrum, North Ribblesdale scored a pushover try which was converted, reducing the lead to 14 points.

York may have held a ‘satisfactory lead’ at the interval but this season they have frittered leads away on several occasions.

The club’s supporters took nothing for granted.

The second half started scrappily until, out of the blue, York produced one of the tries of the season.

The ball passed through the hands of a string of York players at lightning speed including Newitt, Fox, Luke Stockton, and Dan Coe before scrumhalf Atkin scored an unconverted try.

York then played some scintillating rugby with Campbell Thomson to the fore. The benches were emptied but nothing changed York’s dominance.

With five minutes to go, Gareth Singleton was strong in taking the tackle and fed Newitt who put Nicholson away for a final unconverted try.

The hosts failed to score in the second half which underlined York’s superiority. Their joy was increased by news of West Leeds’s 26-25 defeat at Beverley.