Teesside Steelers progressed to the second round of the White Rose Trophy with a last ditch victory against York Groves. The Steelers were behind 9 points to 4 with 5 minutes remaining but snatched the victory thanks to two late tries from Crowe and Gowing. The victory was all the more pleasing for the Steelers, due to the amount of players who played most of the game carrying injuries and when the Steelers scored they were down to twelve men having lost Dickenson with a head injury.
York Groves started the game the strongest putting the Steelers on the back foot, with Hall and Swales putting in some great work for the Steelers defence. Gowing and Fretwell were combining well at half -back when the Steelers had possession, but the York defence held firm. York started to get a grip on the game and their superiority showed when Pollard squeezed over in the corner (4-0). Teesside then took advantage of a handling error by York, Ward gathered the ball and off-loaded to Fretwell who in turn put Garside through the gap. Garside raced 40 yards before falling to a great tackle from the York full-back, York were then penalised for being off-side and Gowing converted the penalty (4-2). This lifted Teesside and it was now their turn to put York under pressure, Derrick Lowe and Taylor went close after two good hanling moves, but the half time whistle came too soon for the Steelers (4-2). HALF TIME.
In the second half neither team could make much headway with defences being on top, but game came to life on 60 minutes just after Gowing had levelled the scores with a penalty (4-4). From the kick off York regained the ball and took play deep into the Steelers half. York nearly scored outwide but Derrick Lowe got back to stop a certain try, York then moved the ball back into the middle and Green had enough time to slot over a drop goal (5-4). Teesside tried in vain to break down the York defence, but it stood firm. York then looked to have sealed the game when Smith score a fine individual try stepping through the Teesside defence and racing 30 yards to score (9-4). The Steelers were now running out of steam with York camped in their half. York were pushing to increase their lead when Hall pounced on a loose ball to regain possession for the Steelers. A good run by Anthony Lowe took play out of the Steelers 20. From the play the ball Ward fed Gowing who sucked in the defence and put Crowe through the gap. Crowe then raced the remaining 65 yards, rounding the full-back to score by the posts, Gowing converting to put the Steelers in the lead for the first time in the 77th minute (9-10). This knocked the stuffing out of the York team and Gowing sealed the game for Teesside when he shot through the York defensive line to score from 20 yards and then convert (9-16). FULL TIME