Birkenshaw Bluedogs 26 Allerton Bywater 40

THE dismissal of centre Chris Abed signalled the end of Birkenshaw Bluedogs' hopes of victory in this Pennine League Division Three clash against Allerton Bywater at East Bierley.

Things got off to a lively start when Allerton's prop was sent to the sin-bin for a foul tackle but the visitors made light of the reduction in numbers as second-row forward Lonny Silkstone spotted a gap to cross the line with ease, stand-off Ricky Fisher adding the extras.

Birkenshaw hit back to level matters when a powerful run from centre Damian Smith set up an opportunity for loose forward Callum Wilkins to sprint to the whitewash and scum half Gary Procter added the conversion.

The Castleford outfit lost another player when a wingman protested too intensely about a decision and was shown a yellow card.

This paved the way for the hosts to strike again and a quick play at the ruck saw second-row forward Luke Hudson reach the chalk and Procter made sure of full reward.

A Procter penalty bang in front of the posts stretched the lead to 14-6 but, with only a minute to go before the break, Silkstone once again popped up in the three-quarters to sprint in. Fisher landed the extra two points to close the half at 14-12.

The visitors' poor discipline was highlighted once again on the restart when coach Craig Oliver received a red card after giving the referee his opinions.

Yet his charges responded positively when Silkstone offloaded to wingman Steve Gribling, who crossed in the corner.

Birkenshaw regained their advantage when a neat move saw Ben Cousen send fellow packman Adam Lazenby diving over at the uprights, leaving Procter a simple task with the boot.

However, a glaring lack of concentration saw them drop the restart and up popped Silkstone to send his prop forward in for a gift of a try.

The fists flew at a scrum on the hour mark, which resulted in the departure of Abed for an early bath and signalled the end of Birkenshaw's chances.

Silkstone completed his hat-trick, after exploiting the slow cover, soon followed by another effort out wide, both converted by Fisher (who missed only once all afternoon).

Smith stemmed the tide when he deservedly claimed a touchdown for his unstinting contribution to the Birkenshaw cause, before another Bywater try put the game to bed.