Unbelievable as it sounds, York Acorn's 62-1 thrashing of Milford Marlins had them trailing by a football score at the end of the first quarter.

Milford hit a bizarre drop goal two minutes after declining a penalty from the exact same position to lead 1-0 after 19 minutes of solid defending from both sides.

But within two minutes, prop Lee McTigue had crossed at the other end for his first of a personal double and an 11-try team total in a game which quickly descended into the realms of humiliation as Acorn made it four wins from four in National Conference division one.

Former York City Knights centre cum second row Darren Callaghan and centre star Mick Embleton were at the heart of a classy footballing performance with speed of hand and some smart sidesteps carving an unassailable lead out of Milford.

Jonny Waldron ran in four tries - a perceptive interception on the 77th minute completing a second half hat-trick after a length-of-the-field effort in each period care of centre partner Embleton and stand-off Callaghan.

Callaghan scored a try to remember after handing-off three tacklers and using Embleton for a one-two round the last man.

Skipper Lee Frank topped a good day with a four-pointer on the stroke of half time and Gareth Lloyd flashed the 300-or-so fans an "I've still got it" grin after embarking on a fantastic run down the right from a smart pick-up by Steve Irving to make it 28-1 two minutes into the second half.

Andy Henson kicked seven conversions and a penalty as the points racked up, with Embleton adding the extras to Andy Gargan's last-minute try to take his tally to six after finishing off a cool 65th-minute team try which had featured youngster Davey Burns along with Callaghan and Waldron - and a suspect forward pass - in the build-up.

Head coach Eric Fitzsimons said: "I was really pleased with the win. Admittedly, they had a few injuries but then so did we."

Acorn leapfrogged West Hull at the top of the table on points-difference.

Updated: 10:58 Monday, September 26, 2005