YORK RUFC secured their first ever victory in the North Premier after thrashing Kirkby Lonsdale 50-0 at Clifton Park, writes Simon Pickles.

After suffering an opening round defeat at Otley, the result was a remarkable turnaround for York, who are in their first-ever season in the fifth tier.

York made the perfect start, scoring after just five minutes when Sam Elliot was played in behind by Declan Cusack’s kick before teeing up Toby Atkin to cross the line.

Cusack was again the architect in releasing Jonny Frank who in turn assisted Liam Hessay to score from a strong supporting line.

The open-side of York’s back line were busy and Elliot passed inside to Hessay who scored his second try quickly after.

Kirkby had the territorial advantage for 10 minutes before half-time and their cause was aided when York’s Freddie Potrykus received a yellow card,.

But Kirkby failed to turn their field position into points and Cusack and Hessay were able to use the wind to kick long out of defence and relieve the pressure on their tryline.

With Cusack kicking two out of his three conversion attempts, York found themselves 19-0 ahead at the interval.

After the break, the wind now favoured the visitors, which may have led to a closely-fought affair.

But York had other ideas and they went over for a bonus-point try early in the second period.

Cusack kicked into the corner from a penalty and Chris Fox high-pointed the ball from the line-out.

Ross White retained possession at the rear of the familiar forward rumble before dropping over the line.

An attacking scrum again provided clean ball to the York backs. Sam Forbes collected Cusack’s pass before providing Rob Hodges with enough space on the wing to finish the attacking move.

With 10 minutes remaining, Shane Goulding burst tackles and scored his first try of the season under the posts.

And York did not ease-up thereafter. Goulding found himself in open-field once again and a sublime kick over the top of the last line of Kirkby’s defence allowed Elliot to touch down.

A clean line-out ball then enabled Forbes to score York’s eighth and final try before the game closed.

Cusack finished with five successful conversions from eight attempts, with no penalty shots at goal.

York will be hoping to secure a first away win in the North Premier when they travel to Preston Grasshoppers on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a tier below, in the North One East, Malton & Norton RUFC stole a share of the spoils after a last-minute try secured a thrilling 26-26 draw with Driffield.

Malton were handed an early chance when the visitors’ Edward Falkingham was sin-binned early on for an offence in front of the sticks.

After choosing to scrum, Malton failed to capitalise on the prime field position with Samuel Triffitt lacking the support of his fellow forwards.

Driffield duly punished the hosts when Adam Brankley strolled over from a line out several metres out, with Ben Dinsdale converting.

On the half hour mark, Driffield extended their lead when a simple move created space for Dinsdale to cut inside and free Ryan Murray to score.

Despite more substantial possession before half-time, Malton found themselves 12-0 behind at the break.

On 45 minutes, 14-man Malton, who had earlier seen William Hughes yellow carded, finally got themselves on the scoreboard through Tom Foan’s intercept try.

But their joy was shortlived as two quick-fire from Dinsdale and Jack Sowerby, both converted by Murray, put Driffield 26-7 in front with 20 minutes left to play.

Malton’s epic comeback began when a clever break and offload by James Bulmer fed Matthew Bowman’s try.

Bowman then crossed again and with two minutes remaining, he completed his hat-trick. Two conversions from Paul Angus put the scores level with just seconds left.

Before the final whistle, Driffield won a kickable late penalty goal but Murray’s effort sailed wide.

Elsewhere in the division, Pocklington were awarded five points after their clash with Bradford & Bingley was called off, with the latter unable to raise a team.

Selby RUFC sealed back-to-back wins in the Yorkshire One after a 27-7 victory at Huddersfield YMCA.

In the Yorkshire Four North West, Nestle Rowntree thrashed Knaresborough 74-5. Sam Croft scored a hat-trick, Jack Thompson, Zak Hardy and Bill Bryan all bagged braces, with Ru Watt and Tom Wyles also crossing. From the boot, Bryan claimed 17 points.

York RI were cruelly beaten 16-15 by Thirsk in their first game of the season. Tries from Matt Sherring-Lucas and Rich Tafa, supported by a penalty and a conversion from Adam Infante gave RI a 15-0 lead at half-time.

But Thirsk rallied after the break as an early converted try and three more penalties, two coming in the final five minutes, handed them the win.