Dewsbury made to work for win

Dewsbury moved into second place in the Northern Ford Premiership and also assured themselves of a spot in the Trans-Pennine Cup final against Leigh, but they made hard work of seeing off lowly opponents at the Ram Stadium last night.

Almost the whole of the division now separates these two sides, but, with Dewsbury still readjusting after their Challenge Cup defeat at Leeds last weekend, it was York who were the quicker into their stride.

They could have already had a try, had Andrew Lambert hung on to a pass from Mark Cain, before their insistent pressure yielded points, Craig Booth putting over a penalty for offside after seven minutes.

That helped to shake Dewsbury out of their torpor, Barry Eaton's jinking run and Ian Talbot's pass sending Bill Kershaw over for the first of an excellent hat-trick of tries.

Despite that, York continued to look the likelier side, with Cain putting over a drop goal and Booth being denied what looked like a good try when he was ruled to have been held up. That was only a short delay, however, Rob Lee charging over from the ensuing scrum. Booth's conversion and Eaton's penalty left York a point in front.

It started to go wrong for York when Shaun Austerfield made a hash of a simple kick through from Eaton and presented Kershaw with his second try and Dewsbury began to make their quality tell in the second half.

Matthew Long and Kershaw set up Nathan Graham for a try, and a conversion and a penalty from Eaton nudged them into a relatively comfortable lead.

York showed more resistance than their league position would suggest, with Gareth Dobson struggling through a couple of tackles to touch down.

The outstanding Kershaw made certain of the points, though, racing on to a pass from Paul Delaney for his third try. Without his personal contribution, Dewsbury could have been in trouble, especially after Cain went in for a last-minute try for the visitors.

Dewsbury: Graham, Baker, Wood, Potter, Flynn, Mycoe, Eaton, Long, Talbot, Jowitt, Richardson, Kershaw, Ball. Substitutes used: Godfrey, Delaney, MacDonald, Spink.

York: Austerfield, McKenzie, Lee, Lambert, Woodcock, Cain, Preston, Hayes, Palister, S Hill, Judge, Booth, Darley. Substitutes used: Dobson, A Hill, Ryce, Hagan.

Referee: S Nicholson (Whitehaven).