North One East: Bradford & Bingley 12 West Hartlepool 12

WHAT happens when you draw a game that most people reckoned was a must-win encounter?

Bradford & Bingley stalwart Brett Mitchell, who has now played 202 first-team games (prop Ryan Wederell has 212 under his belt), is looking on the bright side.

After being held 12-12 by leaders West Hartlepool (the Bees lost the reverse fixture 61-10 in October), lock Mitchell said: "We probably should have got four points but we are looking at it as a positive and two points gained."

On an afternoon where plenty of endeavour was not matched by skill in a game that was appreciated by referee Mike Hurdley, the Bees remained in fifth place in what looks a five-horse race for promotion, but the draw cost West Hartlepool top spot, with Pocklington overtaking them thanks to a 36-0 victory at Percy Park.

Mitchell said: "We are still in the top five, and of the top four we only have Penrith left to play (away on April 8) in our last nine matches, whereas a lot of the other members of the top four have to play each other."

For example, Penrith host Pocklington on February 11 and visit West Hartlepool the week after, while on March 4 Pocklington are at Alnwick, who travel to West Hartlepool the following week.

West Hartlepool are also at home to Pocklington on April 1, but to take advantage of what is an easier run-in on paper, the Bees must play with more fluency than they showed here.

Mitchell said: "In the first half we lost possession too easily, lost the ball in contact and tried to score from the first phase instead of playing through the phases and keeping the ball.

"The second half was a bit better but we kicked when we didn't need to.

"Maybe we paid for a lack of numbers at training as we weren't that good last week either but now we have a week off and we can give our preparation 100 per cent."

On a chilly afternoon, the Bees, who were playing towards the changing rooms, started on the front foot.

Their combative pack were aided by a visiting knock-on, and Bradford & Bingley fly half Gerhard Nortier landed a fifth-minute penalty.

Five minutes later, they kicked for touch deep in the West Hartlepool half, but the hosts were penalised following the line-out.

Nortier missed a penalty on the diagonal between the 22 and the ten-metre line in the 16th minute but made no mistake four minutes later with a penalty after visiting scrum half Ryan Painter was sin-binned for repeated offending.

Bees No 8 Tom Cummins threw a forward pass in front of the stand when they had an overlap in the 28th minute, and they couldn't take advantage either when West Hartlepool flanker Carl Miller was yellow carded for dissent four minutes later.

Nortier snatched at a drop-goal attempt in the 36th minute having shunned a penalty attempt, and his break two minutes later put centre Ben Greaves on a run but his inside pass didn't go to hand.

Ironically, the visitors had one of the best chances when right winger William Hilditch fumbled a kick ahead when a try was a possibility if he had gathered the ball cleanly.

Quite how Bradford & Bingley failed to score a try in the first half was a mystery but the scoreboard changed dramatically in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, giving a lie to the rumours that West Hartlepool don't want promotion.

Ryan Painter scored from a driven line-out and No 8 Sam Miller went over from close range for fly half Gavin Painter to convert.

Trailing 12-6, the home side earned parity via two penalties from Nortier in the 62nd and 79th minutes, but both sides had a man yellow carded in the 67th minute for continuing to brawl after the referee's whistle had blown (Brett Mitchell for the Bees and replacement Matthew Siddle for West Hartlepool).

Gavin Painter also missed a penalty for the visitors in the 74th minute, not making proper contact off the tee.