York Acorn ARLC secured a superb fifth win on the trot with a hard-earned 12-4 victory away to a dogged Ideal Isberg side in National Conference division one.

The first half was dominated by defences, with Acorn in particular having to earn their spurs the hard way because of ill-discipline at times.

Acorn were well served in the forward exchanges by second-rowers Alan Willitts and James Morrow, along with props Mick Hagan and substitute Danny Caldwell. Debutant stand-off Mark Dawson, the man of the match, scrum-half Andy Gargan and full-back Matthew Embleton caught the eye in the backs.

Acorn took the lead on the stroke of half-time when quick hands in the three-quarters saw Matt Embleton cross.

Early in the second half, Ideal Isberg capitalised on a rare piece of slack numbering-up and scored an unconverted try of their own to draw level at 4-4.

But Acorn hit back quickly when, from a scrum heel, Dawson made a telling break from 40 metres out before sending centre Andy Henson in for the final try, which gave Acorn a crucial 8-4 lead.

Penalties in the 65th and 79th minutes from the boot of Gargan saw Acorn complete their win to remain joint-top of the table in their first season in this tier.

Updated: 11:36 Monday, October 03, 2005