York RI's generosity was evident again as they allowed Moortown a 20-18 Yorkshire Three victory that should have been theirs.

A Dave Sowray try, converted by Richard Lightwing, after only ten minutes was the only reward for constant home pressure that saw efforts by Austin, Spilman and Webster stopped short of the line.

Moortown weathered the storm and on their first foray into RI territory they found space out wide to send winger Smith in at the corner

A Lightwing penalty on the half hour gave RI a 10-5 lead but this was short-lived as Moortown again found a gap in the home defence for Smith to score his second try, converted by Barberto put the visitors 12-10 ahead at half-time.

The second half was only five minutes old when RI got their noses in front, Lightwing kicking his second penalty.

The lead should have been extended as the hosts had the lion's share of possession but errors in handling and unwillingness to spread the ball wide let Moortown back.

From a ruck on RI's 22-metre line the ball was fed to the visitors' prop who barged over in the corner.

An exchange of penalties left RI 20-16 behind with five minutes to go but for all their pressure Moortown held out.

Updated: 15:36 Monday, October 13, 2003