A JOHNNY Waldron-inspired York Acorn kept alive their slim hopes of promotion from National Conference League division two with a welcome 32-20 win at Cottingham Tigers.

The result also kept the Blue and Golds four points clear of city rivals Heworth, who edged out Normanton Knights 9-8 at Elm Park Way thanks to two late drop goals from stand-off Carl Potter.

Stand-off Waldron bagged the man of the match award for Acorn after notching a superb hat-trick as his side tore into their Humberside hosts after the break.

The first half had proved tight and saw Acorn go in level at 10-10, thanks to Waldron's first try, a touchdown for former York Wasps and Gateshead Thunder star Gareth Lloyd and a Stephen Waldron goal, to cancel out John Pritchard and Paul Campbell tries and a Pritchard goal for Cottingham.

However, their main inspiration was the last-ditch defending of veteran front row Mick McTigue, whose crunching tackling close to his own line prevented at least two Tigers tries.

After the restart, Acorn, aided by the tenacity of substitute forward Martin McTigue, the handling of scrum-half Andy Gargan and the pace and backing up of Waldron, turned the game their way.

Substitute forward Nick Caldwell put Acorn ahead, Stephen Waldron goaling, and after the Tigers had hit back with a Danny Chapman touchdown, the Blue and Golds stormed ahead.

Chris Martin notched a try and then Johnny Waldron completed his treble with a double-strike, one of which followed a stunning ball out of the tackle assist by Caldwell.

Stephen Waldron took his tally to four goals to make the game safe, even though Scott Bennett notched a late consolation for the Tigers, goaled by Phil Musgrave.

At Elm Park Way, Heworth, with prop Simon Harrison and hooker Liam Cochrane prominent, took the points against Normanton thanks to the boot of Potter.

The stand-off kicked a penalty and three field goals, the last two coming in the 70th and 72nd minutes to reverse the one-point lead in the Villagers' favour.

Both teams only managed one try apiece, leaving the outcome dependent on their shooting boots.

It looked glum for the Villagers as regular goalkicker Dave Carling, who had been suffering from 'flu during the week, did not have his sights in order, but Potter proved the match-winner.

Gavin Grant had given Heworth the lead in the 11th minute with a try set up by Brendan Carlyle and Nikki Wilson. But 14 minutes later, Normanton benefited from an overlap and Gavin Barrett equalised for a 4-4 interval scoreline.

Carling had had the chances to give Heworth a half-time lead but, after missing the early conversion attempt from the touchline, fired wide two kickable penalties on 31 and 39 minutes.

After the break, though, Potter took over and after notching a field goal, was successful with a penalty to give Heworth a 7-4 lead.

Normanton's kicker, Ian Morse, kicked two penalties, the second on 68 minutes to give his side an 8-7 lead. However, Potter's two field goals won the match for Heworth.

Spokesman Ken Sykes said: "We did not play as well as we can and certainly not as well as we did last week against Mayfield, but we got the result which is good."

Heworth take on high-flying division one outfit Oulton in the National Cup fourth round next week, after the Raiders hammered division one outfit Dudley Hill 62-14 in round three on Saturday.

Updated: 11:58 Monday, February 18, 2002