KIWI centre Alexis Time suffered a dislocated elbow as York RUFC held on to beat Sandal 23-14 at Clifton Park.

The 24-year-old had already scored a try and caused havoc in Sandal's midfield when he was injured, trying to hold off a defender on yet another imposing run, midway through the first-half.

With his New Zealand colleague Cory Wallace also forced to leave the field after a bang on the head, it was two precious Yorkshire One points for York which came at a cost.

The Clifton Parkers started brightly and were ahead on three minutes through a Tom Copeland penalty.

Up front, York dismantled a sorry Sandal scrum while fly-half Mike Ford kept them penned into their own 22 with a series of booming boots.

The pressure told on 12 minutes. An errant Sandal pass ten metres out floated straight to the feet of York winger Rob Kama, who flicked up the ball into the hands of Time for the simplest of touchdowns.

Time then went off on 24 minutes and, while York continued to threaten, it remained 8-0 at half-time.

That York had not scored more points was the only surprise, so complete was their domination.

But it was not all plain sailing. There were problems in the lineout and niggling handling errors prevented them taking advantage of a series of promising positions.

Not that it appeared that would matter when, a minute after the restart, Kama intercepted yet another Sandal pass too far and ran it 70 metres for the try.

On the other wing, Billy Cakaunitabua got in on the act on 57 minutes, scoring in the corner after superb work by Ian Davies at the lineout and driving by skipper Jon Sharpe.

With a 20-0 cushion, York looked untouchable but, instead of running riot, they took the foot off the gas and almost paid the price.

First on 67 minutes, following a series of penalties in their own 22, York allowed Sandal number eight Shaun Maguire to ghost through almost untouched.

And, immediately from the restart, Sandal scored a length of the field try when out-half Tom Smith took advantage of disarray in the York defence to touch down a clever kick-ahead.

Improbably, the result was now in doubt and it wasn't until Ford scraped over a drop goal, with a minute left, that the Clifton Parkers and their supporters were finally able to relax.