York's trip to South Shields ended in a 29-8 defeat against Westoe.

They were clearly outpointed by a well-drilled pack which combined strength with height to command the line-outs. Consequently, York were denied possession for long periods and only resilient defence kept Westoe at bay. The hosts could have prospered even more but for a poor display by their outsides. Their passing was poor and they preferred a crash ball approach, thus neglecting their dangerous wingmen.

Nevertheless, after weathering an early surge, York went in to the lead when fly half Craig Ventress slotted a penalty when Westoe were caught not releasing the ball. Westoe maintained their pressure and were rewarded with two penalties for offside which wingman Paul Hagan converted.

York were holding out well as Westoe produced a series of close passing forward moves. With five minutes of the first half remaining, home centre Dave Lamb, cut back across the York forwards to put flanker Dave Bowyer in at the corner.

This spurred York to their best period and right on the whistle, centre Sean Bass inside the home 22, slung along pass out to full back Mike Ford who scored too wide out for Ventress to convert.

At 11-8 down York seemed to be in with a chance despite having to play up the slope. Hagan, something of a flier, had other ideas as he sped to the corner, only to be cut down by Grant Williams, York's outstanding forward. Hagan had some consolation as a York offside offence led him to extend the lead.

York were unfortunate when they lost Stu Davies to the sin bin when he tried to brush off an illegal tackle, but York continued to be penned in their own half and with 15 minutes left, they slipped further behind to a Hagan penalty as Bass was caught offside.

Frustrated by neglect, Hagan fielded a loose ball in the centre and created a try for his fellow winger, the burly Kevin Wilson who added a further try in the final minute as York ran out of steam. Hagan converted and York departed with only the satisfaction of a sterling defensive performance to take into new week's fixture at home to unbeaten league leaders, Morpeth.

The Clifton Park outfit are now embedded in the bottom four which is the number of possible clubs to be relegated. The good news is that their four fixture run-in to the Christmas break is entirely against fellow stragglers.

Updated: 12:54 Monday, November 03, 2003