COMETH the hour, cometh the comeback - that's how Heworth managed to prevail over rivals Rawcliffe.

The teams clashed in the York British Sugar League Under-15s division one clash and while Heworth eventually won 3-1, it was far from a stroll in the park at their Hopgrove base.

The game could have gone either way until the final 15 minutes when Rawcliffe lost their goalkeeper Matthew Potter to injury just as Heworth at last got their act together on a day when it looked as if the wind-lashed conditions would be the overall winner.

Against the wind in the first 45 minutes, Heworth were pegged back in their own half during which Rawcliffe took the lead with a strike from Tom Jackson.

The single-goal advantage lasted to just beyond the hour mark when, after spurning several gilt-edged chances to go further in front, Rawcliffe were breached by an equaliser from leading marksman Michael Whitely.

Honours then looked to finish even until the game entered its last spell. Potter, the only 'keeper in the Rawcliffe U15 ranks, had to go off the field after he was injured in a collision.

Soon after Heworth fired a decisive double salvo - Whitely got his second goal and there was a fine strike from recent addition, midfielder James Oram - to clinch the points for the hosts.

Said Heworth coach Michael Barratt: "Besides being up against the wind in that first half we were also up against a good Rawcliffe team and it needed a solid rearguard action from my lads to keep the deficit down to just 1-0.

"Rawcliffe had other chances to score before we got back on level terms and it was only when we got two quick goals in ten minutes that we could breathe easier."

Barratt's Rawcliffe counterpart Graham Pilmoor could still not quite believe how his charges had not managed to get anything from the game.

"I think the injury to our goalkeeper was the key - that and the stack of chances we missed to have given us a bigger lead," he said.

"While I got four or five volunteers to go in goal, Matthew is our only proper 'keeper and I'm sure had he stayed on we'd have got a draw from what was a very close game."