Debut Towse try not enough as Heworth pay for errors at Rochdale

HEWORTH were unable to maintain their recent upturn of form as they fell to a disappointing 32-14 defeat at fourth-placed Rochdale Mayfield in the NCL Premier Division.

The Villagers trailed 18-4 at the break and 26-4 after 65 minutes before a late flourish produced two touchdowns to prevent what was looking like a runaway victory by the hosts.

Scott Rhodes’ side started strongly, and after forcing a couple of errors from their opponents, set up the field position to fire themselves in front with six minutes played.

A slick passing movement sent debutant winger Zac Towse - the younger brother of York Knights star AJ - over by the right corner flag for an unconverted try.

The Villagers kept up the pressure and should have increased their advantage after 20 minutes when more good handling created an overlap on the left edge, but the final pass went to ground and the chance went begging.

Suddenly, basic errors started to creep in and Heworth’s impressive defensive qualities, which have been evident all season, were found wanting.

That created a huge shift of momentum in favour of the hosts, who capitalised to post a hat-trick of tries from centre Max Riseham, all of which were converted by full back Jordan Parr for an 18-4 half-time lead.

However, any hopes of a comeback by the Black and Whites were firmly extinguished when Mayfield added touchdowns by centre Noah Laughton and second-rower Travis Long on 47 and 65 minutes respectively to take the scoreline out to 26-4.

The Villagers though, to their credit, kept plugging away and three minutes later their efforts were rewarded when a short ball from the returning Callum Rutland sent stand-off Danny Allan striding through a gap to touch down for a well-worked try.

But on 73 minutes, home substitute forward Dakota Tolhurst crossed for another Parr-goaled effort to again widen the scoreline.

It was Heworth though who had the last word when loose forward Jack Earl followed up to touch down a neat grubber kick from Rutland.

The latter also added the extras but it proved a scant consolation as Mayfield ran out comfortable 32-14 winners.

Youngster Towse marked his maiden appearance with the Man of the Match award for the Villagers.

On Saturday, a piece of history for amateur rugby league in the City will be created when Heworth make the short trip across the river to take on fierce local rivals York Acorn at Thanet Road (2.30pm).

It will be the first time that the two clubs have faced each other in the Premier Division of the National Conference League since it was formed in 1986 when the Villagers became the inaugural winners of the flagship competition.