YORK Acorn made it a magnificent seven wins on the bounce with a 34-12 home victory over early season promotion rivals Wigan St Patricks.

Once again Acorn played well in patches, especially the opening 20 minutes of each half, which laid the foundations for this important win.

The hosts looked the better of the two sides from the start, and prop forward Tim Stubbs was proving to be a real handful throughout those early forward exchanges along with fellow front rower Ryan Price.

It was following one of those powerful Stubbs carries that Acorn took the lead on 20 minutes. They capitalised on good field position close to the Wigan try line and second rower Jordan Hyde stretched over to score a try goaled by the boot of Anthony Chilton.

This seemed to wake up St Pats and they enjoyed their best period of the game – drawing level on 25 minutes with a try from their captain and prop forward Jamie Bristow, with winger Craig Thomas adding the extras.

The visitors took the lead on 36 minutes when Thomas raced over for a try he himself goaled to put his side 12-6 in front.

Acorn knew they needed a quick response, which they got on the stroke of half-time.

Impressive full back Joe Budd put in another of his famous tactical kicks out wide for teenage winger Josh Parker to get on the end of and score. Chilton added a great touchline conversion to send the sides in level at the break.

After the restart, it was once again the hosts who started strongly and this time they managed to turn pressure into points.

Firstly on 45 minutes, a high bomb by Chilton was collected by centre Josh Thompson who managed to ground the ball over the try line for a Chilton improved score that put the hosts back in front at 18-12.

Acorn were winning the majority of the arm wrestles, and on 55 minutes they increased their lead when points machine Chilton showed he can also score tries – perfecting a hit and spin roll and scoring a clever try, which he then converted.

The home side began to pick holes in an otherwise stubborn St Pats defence, and their next score on 58 minutes was a beauty as Parker got on the end of an inch perfect attacking kick to the corner by scrum half Lewis Brown.

Great approach play deserved a great finish – and Parker managed to get past his opposite number and ground the ball a whisker before it went dead.

Unusually, Chilton was unable to add the conversion but Acorn had a healthy looking 28-12 advantage.

With captain and second rower Tom Hill giving a man-of-the-match performance in the forward tussles and substitute forwards Matthew Woods and Adam Endersby also to the fore, Acorn had finally broken their opponents' resolve.

Despite their dominance and several gilt-edged chances that went begging – most notably a blistering break by Brown which ended with his reverse pass to Parker going to ground – Acorn's only other points came on 70 minutes.

Winger Callum Worthington showed great footwork and pace to beat his opposite number and score a clinical try out wide. Chilton's conversion rounded off another excellent win.