The promotion issues at the top of Yorkshire Three will go down to the wire after York RI beat leaders Malton and Norton 34-3 at New Lane last night.

Victory for RI means they are now locked on points with both Malton and Skipton at the top of the table with all three teams having just one game left to play.

A win that would have just about guaranteed Tetley's Bitter Vase winners Malton promotion - the issue is clouded by the fact struggling Sheffield Oaks might not fulfil their fixtures - looked on the cards when they took an early lead via a penalty.

However, that was the only impression Malton and Norton were able to make on the scorers all night as RI roared back to win comfortably.

A first-half try from Matthew Yates helped the hosts to an 11-3 lead at the turnaround. Second-half tries from winger Matthew Madigan and Brett Dunnage sealed the win in front of a large crowd at New Lane.

"We played very, very well and it was an excellent game with both sides attacking," said RI spokesman Nigel Lowery.

"But we tackled extremely well and nullified their attacking qualities and were worthy winners."

Brave Selby missed out on a Yorkshire Cup final place, losing by the narrowest of margins to Middlesbrough in last night's semi-final.

After beating National League side Morley in the quarter-final Selby came within a whisker of another memorable victory against their North-East opponents but went down 16-15.

Cruelly for Selby, it took a drop goal in injury time to give Middlesbrough victory and a place in their first Yorkshire Cup final since 1978.

Three penalty kicks from stand-off Carl Paterson gave Selby a 9-3 half-time lead and a drop goal in the second half maintained their six-point advantage with the score at 12-6.

Middlesbrough then got their noses in front when Andrew Micklewright touched down and Andrew Bagget converted before another Paterson penalty regained a narrow 15-13 advantage for the hosts.

But with the clock ticking down, Middlesbrough won possession from a line-out and Andrew Wilson kicked the crucial drop goal. Boro now meet Sandal in the final at Harrogate on May 15.

Updated: 12:53 Thursday, May 03, 2001