Yorkshire Shield: Hullensians 16 Bradford Salem 33

HOLDERS Bradford Salem are through to the quarter-finals after an impressive away victory over Yorkshire Division One high-fliers Hullensians.

Playing into a biting wind in the first half, Salem made a positive start, dominating possession for the opening 10 minutes.

However, some resolute defence from Hullensians somehow prevented Salem from scoring and, following a long clearance kick downfield, the hosts were soon on the attack.

Hullensians' fly half Chris Harding carved his way through the Salem back line on two occasions, and only a superb try-saving tackle from his opposite number Andy Robinson stopped the home side from crossing the line.

The hosts finally broke the deadlock after 15 minutes when, from a five-metre scrummage, No 8 and captain Jason Conroy's flick pass to Chris Smith allowed the scrum half to dummy his way over for a try which was improved by full back Will Simpson to put the hosts 7-0 ahead.

Minutes later, Hullensians increased their lead to 10 points as referee Mike Ramsden penalised Salem for handling in a ruck.

Twenty minutes later, things got worse for Salem as they were reduced to 14 men when open-side flanker Sam Savage was guilty of handling on the floor, Simpson kicking the resulting penalty to give Hullensians a healthy 13-0 lead.

Despite being a man down, Salem then staged a remarkable fightback, and a well-timed pass from Robinson put centre Chris Clough through a gap, and his half-break and brilliant off-load created a try for winger Ryan Smith, Danny Belcher landing the difficult conversion into the wind to get his side back into the game at 13-7.

Minutes later, great footwork from Belcher allowed the classy full back to score a try he improved himself, and suddenly the visitors were 14-13 in front.

Things got even better for the Heaton side when an excellent midfield break from Smith was finished off in style by flanker Dan Snowden and, although Hullensians kicked a third successful penalty, Salem were more than happy with a 19-16 lead at half-time.

With the wind at their backs in the second half, Salem used the kicking skills of Belcher and Robinson to good effect, and it wasn't long before the visitors were camped inside their opponents' 22.

The pressure started to mount and, from a rolling maul, scrum half Matt Child was on hand to force his way over from close range, Belcher adding the extras to stretch his side's lead to 26-16.

In deteriorating conditions and with the error count increasing, neither side seemed to be able to get the upper hand for next 20 minutes but with 10 minutes remaining the contest was virtually put to bed as Smith robbed his opposite number of the ball and the winger sprinted under the posts for a fine individual try improved by Belcher to seal a deserved 33-16 win.