North One East: Alnwick 22 Bradford & Bingley 20

ALNWICK led this contest for a matter of seconds.

Unfortunately it was the seconds immediately before the referee blew for full time after James Bird landed the conversion of Peter Robinson's last- gasp try four minutes into time added on.

Bradford & Bingley were down to 14 men as the game entered injury time, having lost four players to injuries and deployed all three from their bench.

After the previous week's superlative defensive performance against Penrith, Bees supporters in the festive crowd knew that their side can man the barricades, but when Ali MacDonald succumbed to a knock with five minutes of regular time left, it was always going to be tough for Martin Whitcombe's men.

If rugby is a game based on scoring tries, then perhaps there was some justice for the home side as they outscored their visitors by three tries to one, but in truth the Bees were the better side for long periods and felt their fate hinged on one decision from the referee where the official over- ruled the touch judge to award Alnwick a five-metre line-out after the touch judge originally indicated that the Alnwick kick to the corner had gone dead behind the try line.

So with Richard Tafa, Schalk Oosthuizen and the recalled Phil Greaves all available to launch a clearance drop kick from the 22 deep into Alnwick territory and setting up to defend beyond the halfway line, the 14 men were instead faced with defending five metres from their line, which ultimately was to prove their undoing.

Perhaps the omens for the day were not good from the outset for the visitors as Dom Copsey pulled up during the warm-up, promoting Tafa from the bench before a ball had been kicked.

The loss of Copsey meant Whitcombe was forced to pull Max Mountain out of the clubhouse and onto the replacements' bench, with three pints and a full Christmas dinner acting as his pre-match warm up.

This setback appeared to have not affected the Bees one iota, however, as they were quickly on the front foot and pressing into Alnwick territory.

Alnwick had previously won seven from seven home fixtures this season and were possibly unsettled by the way Bradford & Bingley set out their stall from the start.

After losing Gerhard Nortier to a calf injury the previous week and then Copsey, the Bees were deprived of some of their silkier ball-handling skills and lined up with Oosthuizen, forwards coach MacDonald and Tafa at ten 12 and 13.

Their approach was always going to be direct with somewhere over 300kg filling those three positions, and they were rewarded with four penalties from the boot of Oosthuizen in the opening 40 minutes and were well worth that interval lead.

Skipper Tom Booth and winger Ryan Wilson were lost to injury midway through the period, with Wilson being replaced by Phil Greaves, making his return to first-team duty two years after announcing his retirement and becoming the 36th player to play for the Bees this season.

Greaves' first act was to launch a clearance kick from his own 22 to five metres from the home line, underlining that he may well be a useful option for Whitcombe if pitches get soggy after the Christmas break.

Perhaps the half-time interval disrupted the Bees rhythm or perhaps galvanised the home side into action, but Bird was able to get to the whitewash to pull his side within five after a converted try.

Oosthuizen steadied the ship for the Bees with his fifth penalty with eight minutes played in the second half, and at 15-7 the Bees at least had a two-score advantage to defend as the home side continued to advance.

With 65 minutes gone, it appeared that the victory might be in the bag for the Bees as MacDonald pulled a stray pass in and was away for an interception try.

At 20-7 ahead with less than quarter of an hour to play of regulation time, Bees supporters were now looking at their watches and counting off the minutes, and even when Robinson reduced the home arrears to eight, it still appeared that the visitors might keep their noses in front.

Then with Macdonald forced to leave the field, 14-man Bees knew they faced an uphill struggle.

A penalty from the home side brought them within five metres and as Bees supporters saw their watches tick into the fifth minute of injury time came the heartbreaking score from the home side.