YORK Rugby Union Club fought back from 13-0 down to beat Durham City 17-16 at Clifton Park, writes Stuart Copeland.

Two tries in first half injury time turned the tide.

The picture changed when Rob Sparrow won a line-out on Durham's ten-metre line and for the first, and only, time the ball was quickly spread wide to Rob Kama.

He beat his opposite number and kicked the ball over the fullback for Tom Copeland to beat two covering defenders to the touch down.

Although Nick Ventress missed the conversion, York's forwards gathered the ball from the kick-off and drove into the Durham defence.

New scrum-half Graham Smith broke blind and, with support from prop Aidie Martin and second row Brad Macdonald, York maintained the pressure on the Durham line.

This resulted in Kama appearing on skipper Ian Davies's shoulder to score under the posts, giving Ventress an easy conversion to reduce the arrears to 13-12.

Before that, Durham had put York under such pressure that the home side were giving away many penalties.

Winger James Walker landed the first penalty, which was made ten metres easier by York backchat.

Soon afterwards Durham stand-off John Reay looked to be coasting in for a try under the posts when Smith made a bone-crunching tackle that resulted in Reay being substituted by Ian Oates.

Smith, a teacher at Easingwold School, had an outstanding game. There is no doubt that his speed of pass and break and his defensive work will play a major part in York's season.

On 20 minutes Durham's scrum-half Mark McCreedy broke through York's defence to give full back Nick Howe a straight run in for a try, which Walker converted.

But York hit back with their late one-two at the end of the first half.

York put John Sharpe on for injured hooker Rob Allen and began the second half as they finished the first, by putting Durham's line under pressure.

A late tackle on Smith saw Durham captain and hooker Hay sin-binned.

And just when it looked like Durham had survived the loss of a player for ten minutes, Macdonald and Sharpe combined to put winger Rob Liddle in with a long pass. Ventress failed with the conversion.

The last quarter saw York on the defensive, much of which was brought upon by indiscipline around the fringes - leading to Walker kicking a penalty, this time made easier by York not retiring ten metres.

Victory was sealed by two try-saving efforts -- a tap tackle by Ventress and another by Liddle on his opposite number in the corner - as York hung on for their second successive Durham/Northumberland One victory.

Updated: 11:16 Monday, September 13, 2004