Scarborough RUFC’s unbeaten home record, which stretched back to October 2025, came to an end on Saturday as they slipped to a narrow 38-36 defeat at home to York.

Hampered by availability issues and injuries, Scarborough made a slow start to the game and immediately found themselves 7-0 down after AJ Peplinski broke free from a tackle before racing clear to score under the posts.

The lead soon became 14-0, just four minutes later, when former rugby league player Josh Griffin spotted a gap in the defence before offloading for Toby Atkin to cross over.

The impressive visitors added a further penalty before a third converted try, following a driving maul, extended their lead to 24-0.

In the 23rd minute, the home side began an unlikely fightback as they scored three unanswered tries before the break.

First, Tom Harrison crashed through the tackles before Jake Lyon and Max Jefferies both scored from driving mauls to cut the deficit to 24-17.

The second half started in frustrating fashion as York capitalised on missed tackles, with Griffin breaking through before offloading for Will Fordy.

At 31-17, Scarborough began to turn the screw and scored back-to-back tries, with Lyon and James Long both crossing to make it 31-29.

As the game headed towards the final 10 minutes, Fordy finished off a try to extend the visitors’ advantage.

However, Eddie Erskine’s try gave the Scarborough supporters a glimmer of hope, before he added the conversion to make it 38-36 with just one minute remaining.

Needing to run the length of the field from the kick-off, Scarborough knocked on inside the York half to bring the game to an end.

Scarborough head into a much-needed rest week in sixth place in Regional One North East before travelling to Scunthorpe.