York Acorn returned to winning form with a fine 19-2 away win at Castleford Panthers in the National Conference League second division.

The game started with both sides finding handling difficult in the wet, slippery conditions and after a series of fumbles Castleford settled things down on four minutes with a penalty goal from the boot of left winger Sean Wales.

Acorn worked hard to reassert their authority but until two minutes from the end of the half, all they had to show for their efforts was an 18th-minute field goal by prop forward Martin McTigue.

However, in the 38th minute Acorn put together a piece of pure rugby class which saw their captain and stand-off, Danny Callaghan, capitalise on a quick play-the-ball by acting half Johnny Waldron.

He cut through an overworked Panthers defence before slipping a brilliant inside ball to the supporting Rob Lee, who then raced over from 20 yards out.

Winger Kevin Brundett kicked the conversion to put Acorn into a 7-2 half-time lead.

Acorn made the best possible start to the second half with a blockbusting try by their talented game-breaking substitute forward, Nicky Caldwell, who crashed over from close range.

Brundett added the extras to put Acorn into a commanding 13-2 lead.

The game then saw a period of pressure from the Panthers which saw the York side's defence absorb an unbelievable amount of force. At one stage they conceded 54 tackles before they finally repelled their borders in fine style to secure a magnificent win.

Breaking from their own 20, outstanding second rower Dave Norman ran clear before giving Caldwell a fine short pass that sent the latter over for the game's decisive and final touchdown.

Brundett's final goal completed Acorn's 19-2 win and set them up for a morale-boosting win prior to next week's home encounter with local rivals Heworth.

Although this may not have been Acorn's best showing this season it still was one to be proud of especially for diminutive scrum-half Waldron, who ran the Panthers' defence to a standstill, and second rower Dave Norman, who punched several holes in it.

Updated: 12:19 Monday, October 22, 2001