Indeed, it is 12 months since they last lost on their own turf in a league match and that was against weekend opponents Hullensians, who were promoted with them last season. The hosts had Lee Mortimer switching to the wing in the absence of the in-form Ellis Gomersall, who was injured, with the influencial Stuart Wilson slotting in at full back after resting the previous weekend. Captain Oliver Cashman returned to the scrum-half berth but Oli Hardacker retained the stand-off shirt in the absence of Carl Paterson. Hullensians had a much-changed team, with Jason Convoy in the second row and J J Burell at Number 8, while former Leeds Rhinos and Hull centre Jake Thackray also made an appearance.

The mist meant poor visibility for supporters but the first score in the opening minute went to the home side after the dropped kick-off. Hullensians had a scrum mid-field on the 22-metre line and stand-off and player-coach Julian Barkworth attempted a grubber kick which caught a Yarnbury foot and spun backwards. Young fly-half Hardaker scooped it up and slipped the ball to wing Rob Rigby, who raced 90 metres to score under the posts, with Hardaker converting.

Yarnbury were having most of the play in the first quarter and good ball from the pack showed the three-quarters were up for testing their opposite numbers, the back row of Jimmy Cryan, James Barrett and Joe Bennett making some hard yards. But scrambling defence kept Yarnbury out until the 28th minute when, from a scrum, the ball was moved infield and strong-running centre Jason Avison carved through a gap in the centres and rounded full back Chris Tranmer with ease to score under the posts. Hardaker again converted to open up a 14-point gap. The Horsforth side went one better on 32 minutes with possibly the try of the season. A strong handling move between forwards and backs down the blind side saw prop Richard Lister and No 8 James Barrett combine, with the ball then moving back inside for supporting hooker Tom Gilchrist to go in under the posts, Hardaker adding the conversion. Hullensians hit back in the last five minutes to score through centre John Wilson when the defence was stretched, giving a warning to Yarnbury that they were still in the game, although Tom Biglin missed the conversion.

The second half was a scrappy affair, with sin-binnings for both sides and Yarnbury failing to secure and retain enough good ball. Hullensians were keeping the ball among the forwards and denying Yarnbury’s backs any opportunities. The Hull side played the last 20 minutes with a man down after Barkworth was sent off for persistent verbal abuse of the referee. Yet their pack responded and defended with their lives as Yarnbury battered them with a succession of penalties on the try line, only to be continually denied.

As the pressure mounted, a fourth Yarnbury try and bonus point in the form of a penalty try looked likely but was not forthcoming. Then, after repeated attempts, Ben Horner finally got over in the last few minutes for that elusive fourth score to give Yarnbury the five points and lift them above York in the table.