YORK St John's College RUFC went down 12-10 to Hull in one of the closest matches ever played between the rivals.

Hull opened the scoring in the first minutes of the game as St John's were forced to defend for the first 30 minutes. Only strong tackling denied Hull from adding to their tally.

The last ten minutes of the first half saw a reversal in fortunes as Mark Heidworth's penalty got the first of the home team's points.

After the interval, efficient St John's rucking paved the way for man-of-the-match Heidworth to score and convert a try.

However, Hull hit back with a second try to snatch victory.

Graham Allott had a superb game at full-back for St Johns and Bradley MacDonald and James Gofforth returned from injury for solid games in the forwards.

Updated: 12:45 Saturday, November 02, 2002