YORK Acorn avenged their early-season defeat to cross-city rivals Heworth, edging an absorbing derby encounter 8-0 at Elmpark Way.

Over a thousand fans were in attendance for the National Conference League Premier Division clash, with the result propelling Acorn to fifth, but leaving the Villagers flirting with the relegation zone in 10th.

It was an attritional affair, with both sides slugging it out blow for blow in the strengths-apping conditions and it wasn’t until the 68th minute that the visitors registered the only try of the match which eventually decided the contest.

An Antony Chilton penalty then wrapped up the scoring and the city’s bragging rights for Acorn.

Both teams started well, making strong yardage and generating good field position, however neither were able to turn it into points.

Heworth did have strong claims for tries by winger Billy Sturdy and substitute forward Ben Barnard chalked off by the referee’s whistle but it was a similar situation at the other end with the visitors also having chances denied by the officials.

Defences continued to dominate the remainder of the half which became a real arm-wrestle for superiority, and with neither side being able to trouble the scoreboard, things remained scoreless at the break.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with both teams making strenuous efforts to prevail.

With quarter of an hour gone, Heworth came close after a quick shift to the left edge sent second-rower Liam Richmond charging for the line, but the ball slipped from his grasp in the tackle when reaching out to score.

But as the clock ticked down and the heat started to take its toll, something had to give.

And on 68 minutes Acorn’s Man of the Match, stand-off Chilton, slotted a neat kick through a gap in the home defensive line and full- back Josh Parker followed up to touch down by the posts.

Chilton easily added the simple conversion.

The Villagers though refused to lie down and five minutes later another good handling movement exposed the visitors’ left edge, but the final pass from full-back Fraser West to winger George Burton went astray and the ball rolled harmlessly into touch to deny what looked like a certain equalising score.

With three minutes remaining, Heworth were caught offside from a scrum on the halfway line and Chilton stepped up to slot a towering penalty goal which went over via the left upright to put the icing on the cake for the Acorn and seal an 8-0 victory.

Prop Jack Aldous was the Man of the Match for the Villagers with Sturdy, hooker Jack Earl and Barnard also catching the eye.

With just six games remaining, three of which are against top four sides, defeat plunges Heworth deep into the relegation dogfight and leaves them needing to win three matches to keep their hopes of surviving in the top-flight alive.

Next Saturday, fourth-placed Rochdale Mayfield are the visitors to Elmpark Way (2:30pm).