HEWORTH ARLC maintained their good recent National Conference League division three form with a 38-14 win at basement-dwellers Salford City Roosters.

This was the third win on the bounce for the seventh-placed Villagers, who led 16-8 at the break in a stop-start encounter.

Both sides struggled to control the ball and turned over possession on a regular basis. Heworth, though, despite some dogged defence by the hosts, always managed to keep their noses in front.

In the closing 16 minutes, the Black and Whites finally exerted their authority and posted three quickfire tries to seal a convincing victory.

Heworth were first on the scoreboard when, after five minutes, a long cut-out pass by stand-off James Morland led to winger James Gill squeezing in at the corner for an unconverted try.

The Roosters levelled after quarter of an hour with a touchdown by wingman Josh Houghton but, four minutes later, a good passing move saw veteran second-rower Liam Watling take a fine inside ball from full-back Fraser West and cross for his 10th try of the season. Centre Adam Dent added the extras.

On 24 minutes, Heworth paid the price for conceding a needless penalty on the last tackle as Salford's giant winger, Damola Ayanlaja, blasted his way over wide out to reduce the deficit to two points.

With seven minutes to go before the interval, the Villagers increased their lead with substitute George Elliott muscling his way over from close range and Dent converting to make it 16-8.

Five minutes into the second period, they went further in front when scrum-half Liam Jackson sent second-row Fergus Chapman charging in for another Dent-goaled effort.

The Roosters kept battling away, forcing Heworth into some spirited defending - particularly on their own line.

And the hosts' persistence paid off on 54 minutes as full-back Andrew Muscat crossed for a try improved by stand-off Jordan Parker.

That was as good as it got for the home side, however, as the Villagers assumed full control in the 64th minute, with West backing up a strong break by Watling to go over close to the posts and for Dent to tag on the goal.

With four minutes left, man-of-the-match West was in again and, right on the final whistle, replacement Rob Bonehill sent Jackson weaving his way past several defenders to touch down under the sticks. Loose-forward Adam Speck marked his birthday by adding the final conversion.

In Yorkshire Men's League division two, York Acorn 'A' won for the first time in three attempts as they beat Stanningley 18-16 on Friday night.

Despite this being only their second victory of term, fifth-placed Acorn are just one win off third, and one point behind Stanningley, who have played two more games.