York failed to halt their run of League defeats in North East Division 2 when they lost 27-13 to Redcar at Clifton Park.

York had the better of the first half and turned round 6-3 in front.

Redcar had been somewhat ragged as a result of an injury pile-up but this could be said for most clubs, including York, at this stage of the season.

However, at the interval, their captain and fly-half, former Rugby League international star Garry Schofield, gave his charges something of a roasting, with the result that they became a much more dominant force.

They had the size and strength in the pack to deny York the ball and Schofield's tactical kicking ensured that York were invariably on defence in the wetter half of the pitch.

York's early fortunes were the most positive for several weeks with full back Scott Boothroyd and flanker Nick Smart both making powerful bursts into the opposition lines.

A slack Schofield pass was pounced on by centre Andy Hurst. Then, after 15 minutes, Dirk Mulder broke to send Sean Bass slicing through to the seasiders' 22, where they conceded a penalty. Boothroyd, having missed an earlier kick, slotted the opportunity to put York in front.

York continued in their failing of ill-directed kicking turning over possession to their opponents. This enabled Schofield to turn the balance of play and even the scores with a penalty goal when York went offside.

Nevertheless, York continued to attack and their outsides were prominent and Bass again burst through which led to winger Andrew Latto being pulled down just short of the line. But York's only reward was a late penalty by Boothroyd from 30 metres out.

The effect of Schofield's team talk were soon evident as he booted his team 40 metres down to the York line for his hefty pack to maul their way over the line for a try awarded to lock Nick Cook which Schofield converted to give Redcar a 10-8 lead.

Within minutes this was extended when Redcar winger Dan McIlvanney raced down the right and, from a subsequent maul, scrum half Kevin Jones stole away to touch down under the posts for an easy Schofield conversion.

At a deficit of 17-6 it looked like game over for York as their scrum was under severe pressure and Schofield used the platform to keep Redcar deep in York territory. York's defence was its usual resilient self and with 20 minutes left they began to strike back.

Breaks by scrum half James Arkle and Hurst were only halted by timely Schofield cover tackles. But York continued to press and the ball was spun out to Hurst, who scored a brilliant individual try weaving through the Redcar defence from 40 metres out. Boothroyd converted to tighten the score to 17-13.

Smart strode forward strongly to narrow the gap but eventually Schofield was back in possession to kick his team down to the York line. From the line-out he joined the maul to push over the York line and emerge as try scorers which he could not convert.

It was now almost into injury time but not too late for the visitors to launch another attack and full back Greg Unthank joined the line to score too far out on the left for Schofield to convert.

Even after the whistle, Schofield was not finished as he gave his team another lecture on the merits and weaknesses of their performance. Such is the impact of a legend who could equally have won the game for York if he had pulled on the wrong coloured shirt.

Updated: 12:04 Monday, February 05, 2001