Lancashire end Yorkshire's run of Origin glory

Yorkshire 24 Lancashire 36

Lancashire beat Yorkshire for the first time since 1981 here last night and, if the first of the revamped Origin Games lacked the defensive rigour and spite of the Australian original, it was still a hugely enjoyable match.

There was nothing wrong with the intensity of the early tackling, with one shuddering hit by Stuart Fielden on Barrie McDermott setting the tone.

Lancashire did the damage to themselves for the first try, however, Andy Farrell's pass was too low for Chris Joynt and their defence then parted for the other McDermott, Bradford's Brian to put Fielden through.

Yorkshire's second was also from a blunder. Tony Smith launched a high kick, Dom Peters lost it in the sun and Smith followed up to score. With Danny Orr landing both goals, Yorkshire were off to a flyer.

Lancashire needed something special to make sure it was not to become the same old story. Paul Johnson provided it with a clever run that broke the Yorkshire line, with Kris Radlinski in support and Paul Deacon on hand to take his pass.

It was a short interruption to Yorkshire's early superiority, Orr soon finding a scandalous hole in the Lancashire defence for Keith Senior to go through.

A freak of a try brought Lancashire back into it. Orr tried to knock Deacon's kick dead, but it came back off Paul Wellands for Deacon to dive in and secure an odd but legal touchdown.

There was no luck about the converted try that cut Yorkshire's lead to two points, the two substitutes, Kevin Sinfield and Neil Turley, combining beautifully for Radlinski to score. On the half-hour Lancashire moved ahead with their third try in five minutes, as Paul Sculthorpe took a return pass from Johnson. A move of 11 passes then ended with wonderful footwork from Turley to beat Lee Gilmour for Lancashire's fifth try.

It was Yorkshire's turn to trail badly, but they narrowed the gap before half-time to go in 28-24 down thanks to James Lowe's kick and chase.

After that overdose of fast and loose rugby, the second half was far tighter, with more solid defence thwarting both sides' search for a potentially crucial try. It almost came when Daryl Cardiss knocked down Johnson's pass to Turley only for Francis Cummins to be caught offside, Farrell's penalty stretching the lead to six points. It was definitely Lancashire's night when Chev Walker dropped Farrell's kick for Johnson to swoop five minutes from time.

YORKSHIRE: Cardiss (Halifax); Pryce (Bradford), Walker (Leeds), Senior (Leeds), Hodgson (Wigan); Orr (Castleford), Smith (Hull); Brian McDermott (Bradford), Lowes (Bradford), Fielden (Bradford), Peacock (Bradford), Radford (Bradford), Gilmour (Bradford. Substitutes used: Maloney (Salford), Cummins (Leeds), Fleary (Leeds), King (Hull), Anderson (Bradford).

LANCASHIRE: Radlinski (Wigan); Wellens (St Helens), Johnson (Wigan), Connolly (Wigan), Peters (London); Briers (Warrington), Deacon (Bradford); O'Connor (Wigan), Cunningham (St Helens), Barrie McDermott (Leeds), Joynt (St Helens), Sculthorpe (St Helens), Farrell (Wigan). Substitutes used: Turley (Leigh), Jonkers (St Helens), Coley (Salford), Newton (Wigan), Sinfield (Leeds).

Referee: R Connolly (Wigan).