Lancs Lynx 12 York Wasps 25

THE Yorkshire side definitely liked what they saw when they came to Deepdale and conquered Lynx's home record with an impressive defensive display.

In a close game both sides struggled to put together a good set of six tackles until York left-winger Leigh Deakin opened the scoring after seven minutes.

An excellent break by Paul Darley took out two Lancashire tackles to send the speedy Deakin over. York then stretched their lead to 6-0 when the try was impressively converted by prop Craig Booth.

Lancashire looked short of ideas before the once-again impressive Phil Jones scored a cracking try.

Second rower Carl Briscoe punched a hole in the York defence before sending away Jones. The stand off still had plenty of work to do but out-sprinted Jeff Woodward to send the crowd wild.

However when he picked himself up the tired Jones missed an easy conversion.

Lynx continued to give penalties away and paid the price when full back Mark Cain dropped a goal to take his team clear 7-4.

Coach Steve Hampson sensed bad discipline as the half came to a close and sent on his three New Zealanders who had surprisingly been on the bench.

Full back David Murray made an immediate impact as he kicked through the York defence. As the ball ran towards the line Murray was obstructed by three of the Wasps defenders. Referee Ian McGregor played the advantage as scrum half Chris Kelly sprinted on to the loose ball to score.

The crowd were again on their feet and still cheering when Jones converted. The signs looked good as the lack lustre Lynx amazingly lead 10-7 at the break.

The second half started disastrously when centre Darren Abram knocked on. York immediately took advantage of the error passing the ball wide for former Leeds player Deakin to cross for his second.

A goal kick from each side followed, keeping Lynx ahead 12-11. A mixture of good defence and poor attacking kept the scores that way until ten minutes from the end.

Then with time ticking away the game's most important and controversial moment took place when York sub Alex Godfrey picked up the loose ball to score.

Trailing by three points, Lynx then struggled to get in to York's half. A determined York team then sent Deakin over his hat-trick before another try, deep in to injury time, condemned Lynx to their first loss of the season.

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