New Earswick All Blacks came back from the dead to beat bottom club Keighley Albion at White Rose Avenue.

Trailing 10-0 in their National Conference league division two encounter, the All Blacks looked to be heading for defeat.

Prop Gary Boocock's try and Mark Ives' conversion gave the visitors a 6-0 interval lead.

When John Williams increased that with a try from 25 metres immediately after the interval, there looked to be no way back for All Blacks.

But with 15 minutes left they got a foothold in the game when impressive stand-off Mick Harrison darted over. Dave Carling tagged on the extras to set up a grandstand finish.

There was no stopping New Earswick now as Harrison powered over for his second try and Carling's boot levelled the scores.

Keighley, who have had a bad habit of letting leads slip away in recent games, were then beaten as centre Jamie Rhodes crossed for All Blacks' third - and match-winning try.

It was New Earswick's first win in five matches and ensured a double over Albion. The win also saw them move seven points ahead of city rivals York Acorn, who lost 30-16 at Normanton Knights.

This time it was Acorn who let a lead slip.

Loose forward Simon Cornish and winger Steve Irvine scored tries either side of a Kevin Martin touchdown to gave Acorn a 10-6 advantage after 20 minutes.

But Acorn fell behind when Martin crossed for his second try and before the interval Kevin Bateman added another to give the Knights a 16-10 lead, Ian Morse kicking his second goal.

The second half was mainly one-way traffic as Acorn were unable to make much headway against a flinty Normanton defence.

Paul Seal crossed for Normanton's fourth try of the match, Morse again adding the extras, but Acorn kept battling and were rewarded when Kenny Embleton scored a neat try which enabled Franks to boot over his second goal kick.

At that stage Acorn were still in the match, but Normanton gained some breathing space with a Morse penalty and then sealed the match when Ian Booth scored a try and Morse added the extra points.

Heworth's National Conference League premier division home game against Saddleworth was postponed.

Beverley East Hull won their first point of the season thanks to a 16-16 draw with Askam. Egremont Rangers went down 26-6 at West Hull in their only other premier division game to beat the weather.

York Groves again failed to kick off their 1999 campaign in the third division of the Yorkshire league.

The York outfit were due to play Rodley Dragons at Burdyke, but a spokesman for their Leeds-based opponents contacted Groves 45 minutes before the kick-off to cancel the game as they were unable to raise a side.

As a result of the late postponement, Groves will claim the game, 18-0.

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