NEW Earswick All Blacks suffered late agony in their Yorkshire Cup third round clash at Keighley Albion as a penalty two minutes from time saw them lose 24-23.

Underdogs All Blacks, who gave away two divisions in status to the Pennine League premiership outfit, had gone ahead late on with a long-range drop goal by Dave Carling.

But a penalty for ripping the ball out of the tackle close to the sticks - deemed by some as a decision that could have gone either way - gave Albion the chance they needed to win it.

It was a superb display by the York side, though, with loose-forward Chris Judge and prop Eddie Keeping leading the charge.

They also had a try ruled out early on in the game when scrum-half Ben Jones touched down Carling's kick through, only for the referee to harshly deem another player had been offside. The pressure finally told, though, on 25 minutes when Carling's pass saw Matt Godfrey side-step two defenders to score by the posts, Carling goaling.

The best move of the match then saw man of the match Judge dummy his way over out wide.

Albion hit back with two tries in five minutes before half-time to level at 10-10 and that form continued after the interval with two more home tries in the next ten minutes for a 22-10 lead.

But the All Blacks rallied superbly as Jones dummied over and then, with 15 minutes left, Alan Pallister sent Judge crashing over again, Carling's conversion levelling matters before the late drama ended in heartbreak.

Selby Warriors made it five wins from five on the road with a 14-13 win at Cowling Harlequins to stay joint-top of Pennine League division five.

The Warriors relied on a makeshift pack but they were boosted by the return of Mick Smith at hooker, who had an inspirational game.

Wayne Fennell's penalty put them ahead, but all subsequent attacks came to nothing due to handling errors which put them on defence for almost the entire half.

Cowling benefited from about 70 per cent of possession but could not score until they equalised with a penalty, and it took a further 15 minutes of pressure before they finally crossed for a converted try.

The tackling remained excellent throughout the period with Mark Adam, Alan O'Driscoll and Craig Daltrey outstanding and Cowling was forced to go only for drop goals - landing one for a 9-2 interval lead.

The Warriors then found their form, as prop Paul Friar sucked in three men before releasing Fennell for his 12th try of the season.

Selby continued to press thanks to a rare hook against the head, by Smith. And within five minutes they took the lead when player-coach Andy Rowe battered his way through five players from 20 yards.

Cowling looked to hit back on a rare attack but Selby skipper Carl Bardauskas intercepted a pass to race 90 metres for the decisive try.

That made it 9-14 and, although Cowling added a try, they missed the conversion and a determined Selby hung on.

York Groves lost ground when they were handed a 16-0 defeat away to fellow mid-table side West Bowling 'B'.

Updated: 10:24 Tuesday, October 12, 2004