JOINT North One East leaders York were pushed all the way by Kendal before edging home at wet and windy Mint Bridge on Saturday.

Indeed, at just 8-0 down, the home side were still in the game and pressing hard deep into added time at the end, only for the visitors to grab a breakaway try to seal victory on their first ever visit to Kendal.

The home side made just one change to the Kendal team, from their narrow defeat at Bradford & Bingley a fortnight ago, Chris Evans returning for Ciaran Ward.

And they competed well in an even first 20 minutes which saw little threat from either team.

York were well on top in the scrum, but Kendal probably had the better of the lineout, with a number of York throws either stolen or disrupted.

The first real chance came when skipper Glen Weightman crossed only for the referee to rule he had lost the ball prior to touching down.

Dini Noyo also came close and Weightman's two long range penalty attempts were blown off target as the half ended with the score still 0-0.

The second half continued in the same fashion, Kendal defending well and probably having the better of territory, but York having more of the ball.

And the visitors broke the deadlock 10 minutes into the half when outside half Declan Cusack put over a penalty.

Kendal brought on Alistair Thompson for Dan Greenwood, with Ben Dixon moving to No.8, and Jack Lashley for Tom Moulton, but the York lead was extended midway through the half when the York pack drove over and Sam Elliot scored an unconverted try.

Lewis Kincart replaced Jordan Johnson at scrum half for the home side, and he almost got his side back into the game when spotted a gap, powered through and kicked on, but he was just beaten to the touchdown.

In injury time, Kendal were pushing for a try in the York twenty two to snatch a losing bonus point only for a kick through to go straight into the hands of Shane Goulding who went the length of the field to score under the posts.

That made the scoreline a flattering 0-15, though on balance York perhaps just about deserved their win.

Next weekend, Kendal face another tough task when they travel to high flying Cleckheaton.

A depleted 2nd XV suffered a 43-12 defeat at Sandbach while the U15s lost 46-5 at Wigton, Connor Lees scoring Kendal’s only try.