YORK RI went down 16-14 to hosts Skipton in a hard-fought Yorkshire Three game and will reflect on missed opportunities.

Flanker Nathan Ashman opened the scoring for RI, who took a recycled ball to go over. The visitors extended their lead on the half hour with a Matthew Yates penalty.

But the Skipton pack, with scrum half Proctor urging them on, started to make inroads. White reduced the arrears with two of his three penalties as RI led 8-6 at half-time.

A penalty each midway through the second half kept RI noses in front but just as it looked as though they would hang on an opportunist try by the Skipton scum-half, converted by White, saw the visitors fall five points behind.

Even as time was running out, a penalty by Yates got RI to within two points and from the restart a break by Nick Humphries got RI to Skipton's five-metre only for desperate defence to hold sway.

Updated: 10:07 Monday, November 22, 2004