York gained their second league victory of the season with a 23-12 win at the expense of local rivals Pocklington.

The first half was a poor advert for Yorkshire One rugby with both sides making frequent mistakes.

Possession was often conceded and both sides missed kickable penalties which could have conferred a clear advantage in what was a very tight match.

After a messy start, York began to show some form and, when new fly-half Craig Ventress kicked into his opponents' 22, both number eight Lee Denham and centre Damon Smith had effective bursts for the line.

However, the only dividend for York was when, after 13 minutes, Pock' went offside and Tom Copeland converted the penalty.

Pocklington then went on to dominate the rest of the half with former York fly-half Kevin Bowling, Pock's best player, contributing several sniping breaks.

His flanker colleague, Carl Stannard, ran very powerfully and was always a handful.

York put in some desperate defence and were a shade fortunate to reach half-time with honours even as a result of late but smooth drop goal from Bowling.

Immediately after the resumption, Copeland and Bowling exchanged penalties.

Then, after ten minutes, York seized the initiative when centre Stu Davies went left and deftly slipped the ball inside to Denham who strode clear from 35 metres out.

He found former York Wasps RL winger Leigh Deakin perfectly positioned for the scoring pass to give York an 11-6 advantage, Copeland missing the conversion.

Pocklington responded well and Bowling went close on a couple of occasions, while captain Mark Floyd crashed over from close range but was held up in goal.

However, they were unable to get the ball wide enough to create scoring space as the York defence survived a severe testing.

Nevertheless Pock' then took a 12-11 lead through two penalties from Bowling with the second being an excellent long-range kick.

By now Nick Hare had come as a prop substitute and the York pack were beginning to gain the edge.

After a move down the left to the Pocklington 22, the ball was recycled right where lock Dave Spanton burst forward to give a superbly weighted pass to winger Rob Liddle, who shot in at the corner for an unconverted try.

With York having only a four-point lead and 20 minutes left Pocklington were far from out of it.

York tried for security with a long penalty but Ventress kicked short and wide.

Soon afterwards, he put a superb long rolling kick to the Pocklington line. York secured the lineout ball and mauled their way over the Pocklington line where Hare gained the touchdown. Ventress converted excellently from wide out.

With a two-score advantage and growing forward supremacy, York comfortably held on for victory and eased themselves off the bottom rung of the league.

There will be something of a relegation dog-fight in this division but there is no reason why York should be part of it. However, Pocklington, ravaged by close season player defections, need to find a way of converting their commitment into tries.

York now face three tough assignments with a visit to Scarborough next week followed by home fixtures against Beverley and Pontefract.

These fixtures will indicate how high York can aspire. Failure will mean their season will consist of ensuring they pick off the stragglers to avoid the relegation zone.

Malton and Norton stayed joint-top of Yorkshire Three after a comprehensive nine-try 60-8 victory at Halifax Vandals.

Malton dominated throughout and had far too many big guns for a poor Vandals outfit.

After early handling errors, due in part to a slippery ball, Malton showed what was to come after five minutes.

After winning possession at a lineout in their own half, Malt spread the ball to centre Matt Richmond, who broke through the defence and made 40 yards before being stopped with 20 yards to go.

Support was quickly on hand and again the ball was spun wide for Ian Cooke to score the first try.

He followed this with a penalty before Malton again used the superior class of the backs to send Ian Mansell in at the corner, Cooke converting.

The only blip of the half came when Halifax were awarded a penalty for offside which was converted by full-back Andy Mouchie.

With Tim Casey and Duncan Foster winning the majority of lineout ball and Phil Ryan and Carl Rushworth putting in some tremendous work in the loose, stand-in scrum-half Nick Tyson was able to settle into his new role with ease and supply his three-quarters with fine service.

Malton's plans could have been upset when hooker Steve Hayhurst was sin-binned for a deliberate offside just before half-time but they dug deep and indeed added to their tally with a try from wing Liam Cowton, who has grabbed his opportunity to claim a starting place with both hands.

The second half saw Malton turn the screw as Vandals began to flag.

Ryan was in his element, making yards with his low driving style, and with the rest of the pack adding their contributions further scores were bound to come.

Skipper Chris Creber used his much-improved boot to good effect when necessary and linked well with his backs, and some scintillating rugby followed.

Tries came at regular intervals through Tyson (2), Tim Chapman, Ryan, Steve Hayhurst and Dave Knaggs.

Ian Cooke finished the game with a personal tally of 20 points with a try, penalty and six conversions.

Andy Barker again had a solid game in the front row and Richard Webster grafted all afternoon in what was a very good team performance.

Updated: 12:07 Monday, October 22, 2001