Bradford & Bingley 34, Driffield 33

WHILE they are in the middle of trying to improve an away record that has brought only five victories in 29 matches in the past two and a bit seasons, Bradford & Bingley almost notched a damaging home defeat.

A 26-3 interval lead, albeit achieved with the breeze, should have been the platform for a bonus-point triumph.

However, the hosts then ended up scoring only three points and conceding 23 in the second half, which brought the score to 29-26, before home skipper Brett Mitchell's bagged a match-saving try in the 80th minute.

That lead of eight points meant that centre Oliver Furbank's converted try four minutes later was not enough to bring Driffield victory, but it did earn them two bonus points – one for losing by less than seven points and another for four tries.

Mitchell said: "Driffield had the wind in the second half and their No 10 (Robin Kitching) used it well but we thought we had the game won at half-time and switched off.

"I was worried in the last 15 minutes but the character of the side showed through, as it had the previous week at Northern."

As for the message from the players' meeting last Tuesday called to try and solve the conundrum of winning away from home, Mitchell said simply: "We just need to rediscover our passion."

Centre Kitching, who since leaving Otley has taken a year out of the game to come to terms with Crohn's Disease, said: "We should have taken the game in the end, and our fitness, which won us the game against Wheatley Hills last weekend, almost paid dividends.

"But I missed two kickable penalties in the first half, although if you had offered me two match points before the game started, I would have accepted them."

It all seemed too easy for the Bees as they built a 26-3 lead after 29 minutes, player-coach Stuart Dixon being on the end of flanker Tom Cokell's break for the first try in the seventh minute, and Dixon's centre partner Richard Tafa profiting from good team ball retention four minutes later.

With Driffield No 8 Jeremy Harrison in the sin-bin for interference, Bradford & Bingley's Kiwi full back Shaun Driver scored in the left corner after they created an overlap, and, with Driffield full back Danny Smith in the sin-bin, a brilliant piece of improvisation from Harry Hall, kicking infield, brought the Bees a bonus-point try for fly half Adam Mitchell, who added three conversions.

Driffield's only reply came from a Kitching penalty, but he missed two more near to half-time before orchestrating their recovery in the second half, which brought tries for wingers Rob Murray and Joe Robinson and scrum half Craig Gray, Kitching landing two penalties to one for the Bees via Driver.