Pocklington came away with plenty of praise but no reward as they went out of the Powergen Vase at the fifth round stage by 24-9 at Sheffield Tigers.

The turning point came on 70 minutes. Pock had fought a fine rearguard action and were leading 9-3 when a scrum went down and the referee controversially awarded Sheffield a penalty try to edge them ahead.

The odds had been stacked against Pock before the start. They were on the way to Sheffield when their hosts rang to say the pitch might not be playable. Pock said to play despite the waterlogged surface, and they made a superb start.

Teenager Nick Bennett booted a penalty, then centre Harry Allen intercepted to dive under the posts with a defender alongside him, but by the time the official arrived Allen had been judged to have been turned on his back. Nevertheless Pock held the position and Kev Bowling dropped a goal.

Sheffield's heavyweight side started to crash up the middle but Pock defended superbly with skipper Matt Atkinson leading the way.

Penalties were swapped and Pock's hopes of progress remained alive until that penalty try. That took the wind out of their sails and the Tigers crashed over twice more.

Updated: 10:41 Monday, December 20, 2004