YORK came away from Stockton with a 10-10 draw departing too with the knowledge that they let victory from their grasp in the Powergen Division Two North-east fixture.,

The visitors had led throughout until the final minute, though credit must go to Stockton for a powerful fight-back - capped by fly-half Jeremy Good - to earn a draw which was probably a fair result.

York had much the better of the early exchanges. Ian Davies made some bullocking charges from the back of the scrum where York had a clear ascendancy.

The Clifton Park corps were spreading the ball about and the inter-passing of the forwards was impressive.

After 15 minutes they pressed down the right and, when the ball was spun left, flanker Stu Davies seared through the centre to the Stockton 22. Instead of feeding flying wing Rob Kama, he cut back towards the posts only to be collared. Stockton, however, strayed offside and York had to settle for the consolation of a penalty goal from Craig Ventress.

Soon after, Ventress missed another penalty, but York remained on the attack and controlled forward play saw the ball passed out to Kama (pictured) on the left.

He collected a poor ball and Billy Whizzed his way through the home defence with a typical crab-like run. Ventress converted, but then missed two penalties before York ended the half on a high with a powerful run from Kiwi hooker Jon Sharpe.

Early in the second half Ventress failed from long-range and York put on Andy Kay for Ian Davies and Andy Smith for prop Dave Dorking. As the half drew on the loss of bulk from these substitutions appeared to affect York's supremacy in the tight.

Stockton came back into the game with a couple of good moves down the wings. They camped in the York 22 for almost 15 minutes, but despite conceding a flurry of penalties, York defended with iron resilience as Stockton opted to go for a try through a series of mauls and scrums.

Just as the storm had been weathered James Arkle was penalised for a crooked scrum feed - a rare event in the modern game.

The moment of glory had arrived for Stockton fly-half Good. He rifled a superb kick to within five metres of the York line and after his forwards won the line-out he sliced through the defence to score near the posts, adding the conversion which stole the draw.

Having missed the chance to ahead of their hosts and fellow strugglers, York face a bleak future if they fail to beat table-topping Northern at Clifton Park on Saturday.

Updated: 13:05 Monday, November 24, 2003