HEWORTH ARLC stayed top of Yorkshire Men’s League division one after a 40-10 success at fellow promotion-seekers Hunslet Parkside ‘A’ - despite not being at their best.

Playing on a narrow pitch, the Villagers trailed 10-6 at the break after a poor first half in which a lack of penetration saw them fail to take advantage of some excellent field position.

It was a different story in the second period, though, as they notched six unanswered tries to take the spoils.

Heworth stand-off and man of the match, George Elliott, again proved to be Parkside's Achilles heel after notching his second hat-trick against them in under a month, his first coming in the 18-18 draw at Elmpark Way.

Hunslet took the lead after six minutes with a try by hooker Jack McShane goaled by scrum-half Luke Medley.

Heworth levelled on the quarter-hour. They put the ball through several pairs of hands for second-row Fergus Chapman to cross in the left corner, dual-reg Newcastle Thunder full-back Ben Dent adding a fine touchline conversion.

Parkside nosed back in front with a touchdown by winger Jake Corney.

The Villagers then created a number of good chances but were unable to break down the hosts’ scrambling defence and trailed 10-6 at half-time.

After a stern talking to by coach Scott Rhodes, Heworth came out for the second half in determined mood and after only two minutes took a lead they were never to relinquish when a fine inside ball from second-row Liam Watling put Elliott over for Dent to convert.

Elliott made it a brace on 48 minutes after good work by Dent and Watling, with winger Lewis Hartley converting.

The momentum was now with the Black and Whites and, on the hour, hooker Dave Hayes sent Watling crashing over before Elliott completed his treble when snapping up a rebound from a kick by loose-forward Adam Speck. Hartley improved both scores.

With five minutes left, centre Billy Sturdy crossed and Hartley converted, and on the final whistle, fellow centre Gareth Watson gathered an attempted chip kick by the hosts and charged over for the final score.

York Acorn 'A' also had a decent win, seeing off Allerton Bywater 40-22 at Thanet Road to climb to sixth in the table.

Meanwhile, in division five, Heworth ‘A’ fell 28-26 in a close-fought encounter at Birkenshaw Bluedogs, after trailing 22-18 at the break.

The Villagers’ tries were scored by Joe Murphy, Sam Clarke, Tom Hirst, Jonny Clark and Karl Read, who also kicked three conversions.