YORK RUFC stretched their lead at the top of the North East One table to double figures after beating Scarborough 31-14.

Having fallen to a 37-23 loss to second-placed Cleckheaton last weekend, York recovered from the set back by returning to winning ways and their bid for promotion was also boosted by Cleckheaton’s 22-19 defeat at Durham City.

York now hold a ten-point advantage at the top with seven league matches of the season remaining.

The match survived Storm Dennis and given the predicted difficult weather, York went for a powerful and experienced forward pack.

Chris Fox and Luke Stockton lined up at second row, with Cade Robinson and Joe Simpson the flankers and Joe Maud positioned at eight.

Shane Goulding added additional power as a back-row rotation.

With the wind behind them, York took an early lead.

Liam Hessay kicked a penalty long in to the corner to set up a driving maul.

Joe Maud broke from the side of the maul with ball-in-hand and drove it over the line.

Hessay missed a difficult conversion.

It didn’t take much longer for York to add more points to the scoreboard, scoring their second try soon after.

Joe Simpson found some space at the side of a ruck and ran in to open field, with Toby Atkin in support to receive the final pass.

The conversion from Hessay was good this time.

York kept up the pressure; with John Aikman, Ross White and Will Scholey in the front-row, the scrummage was more than steady.

After a dominant scrum surge, York won a penalty and pushed Scarborough back again. This time, the back-line handled the ball.

George Davies and Ben Dyson-Dent both went close to scoring before the ball was spun the other way.

Luke Stockton received a pass in space on a straight, forceful line and, on this occasion, he had too much power for a stretched Scarborough defence. Hessay’s conversion was slotted again.

Scarborough got in to the game with a try of their own. Their scrum-half, Jordan Wakeham, waited patiently for the referee to blow his whistle on an awarded penalty.

He then sharply tapped the ball and moved past a number of defenders who were now in an offside position.

Wakeham was supported by Tom Harrison who released flanker Euan Govier to score.

Fly-half Tom Ratcliffe kicked the conversion.

Dyson-Dent was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle and York spent fifteen long minutes inside their twenty-two before half-time.

Their defence held firm though and it remained 19-7 at the break.

York had made the most of the early calm weather but the rest of the game would be tough against a Scarborough side, who didn’t make many errors.

Against the wind, any territory and possession York had in the second half would be precious and from a rare chance they extended their advantage.

White exposed his ribs to a double tackle and released a pass to Chris Fox who had support, as ever, from Atkin who ran in and scored near to the posts.

Hessay kicked the conversion and York had their bonus point try.

Scarborough had a lot of attacking possession and their winger, Jonty Holloway, got them a score back.

He received the ball at pace and uncovered space in the York defensive line.

The conversion was added by Wakeham.

Scarborough battled to get back in to the game but York defended well and the home side got a try to close the game.

Shane Goulding peeled off the back of a dominant York scrummage to add further gloss to the scoreline.

Further down in the division, Pocklington suffered a 17-10 defeat at Kendal.

The result leaves Pocklington in 11th place in the North One East table, two points clear of the relegation places.

Pocklington host Durham City, who they sit directly ahead of the in the standings, this Saturday.

The match is the rescheduled game of the originally planned fixture for January 18 and has a 2.15pm kick-off.

Meanwhile, in Yorkshire One, Selby were leapfrogged by Goole in the league table after suffering a narrow 22-20 away defeat against their mid-table opponents.

Selby remained seventh in the table as a result, with Goole moving up to sixth and two points clear of Selby.

Next up for Selby is a trip to fifth-placed West Leeds, who currently hold a seven-point lead over this weekend’s opposition.

Since the turn of the year, Selby have lost four of their six matches.

They will be hopeful of an upturn in their away form specifically too, having not won away since a 10-5 victory at Pontefract back on November 23 - one of only two wins from nine league matches played away from home this season.

West Leeds edged past Selby 19-16 in the reverse fixture which was played in late October at Sandhill Lane.

YORK RI kept the pressure on the Yorkshire Division Four Premier leaders after coming out as 10-0 winners over Leeds Modernians.

Victory for third-placed York RI means that they now trail leaders Burley by just three points and are only two points behind Bramley Phoenix, who are second.

The match was due to take place in Leeds, however the weather meant that the pitch was deemed to be unplayable and the fixture was reversed and played at New Lane.

With Storm Dennis hitting large parts of the country, the game kicked off in wet and windy conditions, with RI playing into the weather in the first half.

Surely enough it was the visitors that had the early territory, using the weather to their advantage and pinning RI deep in their own half.

The majority of the half was played in that fashion, with an outstanding defensive effort keeping Mods at bay.

Opportunities to open the scoring came for the visitors, but a couple of penalty kicks were missed in tough conditions.

The conditions made progress difficult for either side and the first-half finished scoreless.

An RI score did come though, following an extended period of pressure inside the Mods 22 metre area, with replacement Rich Tafa spotting space to pick-and-go though a ruck and.

It didn’t take long for a second score to follow, with scrum-half Chris Jones getting in behind the line, chipping the ball over and managing to win the race to touch down.

The game soon became a physical battle between the forward packs in an effort to wrestle any further opportunity. No further scores followed and the full time whistle went.

Elsewhere, Nestle Rowntree RUFC kept apace with the league leaders in the Yorkshire Division Four Shield after grinding out a 15-0 win over Thirsk.

Hooker Ryan Roodt opened the scoring on 18 minutes from a strong driving maul, with the conversion being missed.

The second half opened brightly from both sides though the defences were on top for large periods.

However an offside call gave Ali O'Gara the penalty to which he duly planted through the posts to give Trees an 8-0 lead on 52 minutes.

As the forwards battled hard it was the Trees pack who again proved to be the stronger, handing them a decisive third score.

Replacement prop forward Marc Ford crashed over the whitewash to further increase the lead before O'Gara added the extras with the conversion, with ten minutes remaining on the scoreboard.

The Trees now sit three points behind the division's leaders Leeds Medics and Dentists, who won 22-7 away to Sheffield Oaks to maintain top spot.