Pennine League division five leaders York Acorn 'A' saw their hopes of lifting the title take a serious jolt when they lost 21-12 at home to Undercliffe.

The visitors thus moved level on points at the top, albeit having played three games more, while third-placed Thornton remain only two points behind but have a game in hand after their match against Wetherby was postponed.

Acorn weren't able to dominate their game like they have been doing for most of the season.

They still managed to keep some kind of authority thanks chiefly to experienced campaigners prop Gary Taylor, scrum-half Mick Calam and makeshift hooker Barry Fox, while teenage prop Jason Harper also did well.

But they were unable to turn possession into points as several chances went begging.

Tries came from Tom Galloway and Alex Cowton to go with two Ben Hodgson goals, but it proved insufficient.

Updated: 09:29 Tuesday, March 09, 2004