York welcomed Durham City RFC to Clifton Park for the final league game of 2019. The home side made two changes to the starting 15 with Ben Dyson-Dent replacing the unavailable Sam Elliott and Will Fordy replacing Jonny Frank who rotated to the bench.

Durham kicked off with a strong wind at their backs and made a good start retaining possession and attacking the York defence. The first 25mins was spent entirely between the respective 22m lines with neither team able to make a breakthrough. Durham were then awarded a penalty for a high tackle and Armstrong kicked the points.Straight from the kick off, York retained possession and excellent play between Chris Fox and Shane Goulding ended with Fox scoring the try. Declan Cusack added the conversion for a 7-3 lead.York were now playing with confidence and on 37minutes Liam Hessay joined the line from full back and broke two tackles before off-loading to Declan Cusack to score. Declan missed the difficult conversion. Durham were showing no signs of backing off and just before half time put together an excellent move with Ellis Hook scoring in the corner.With the conversion missed, York lead 12-8 at half time.

York started the second half strongly with the excellent Luke Stockton making a strong run only to be stopped 5m short of the try line. Durham managed to clear the ball but from the resulting scrum on the 22m line, Sam Forbes broke through to score with Cusack adding the conversion. 19-8.York were now in control and on 50mins Will Scholey showed excellent pace to break through the Durham defence before passing to Ben Dyson-Dent who scored in the corner, with the conversion missed the score was now 24-8.Declan Cusack and Oscar Bell were replaced by Jonny Frank and Lewis Hannibal. Lewis was quickly back on the bench after receiving a yellow card. From the penalty Durham took a quick tap and go before scoring wide on the right, with the conversion missed the score was up to 24-13.Durham were now putting York under sustained pressure and on 65 mins the inevitable try arrived and the successful conversion brought the score to 24-20. Durham were back in the game. From the kick off Chris Fox retained possession, York put together a flowing move travelling from the right wing to the left with Rob Hodges scoring in the corner but the difficult conversion was missed.York were now in full flow. Shane Goulding broke through the Durham defence before stepping past the full back to score. Hessay added the conversion taking the score to 36-20.From the kick off York took the ball, Will Fordy broke through several tackles to score with Hessay adding the conversion. A devastating 10m spell had taken York into a 43-20 lead after Durham appeared to have battled their way back into the game. There was just enough time for Liam Hessay to add a penalty from 35m to make the final score 46-20 and end a very entertaining game.

The win took York to 49 points and second in the league on points difference behind Driffield. York travel to 3rd place Morley on the 4th January