North One East: Bradford & Bingley 31 Dinnington 22

ONE good win does not suddenly mean that Bradford & Bingley are out of the woods after three defeats in their opening three North One East fixtures put the Wagon Lane side into a relegation position.

However, this performance will have lifted spirits across the club and gives some real hope that Martin Whitcombe's men have turned a corner.

With games against the sides immediately above them to come in the next three weeks - Northern, Huddersfield YMCA and West Hartlepool - the Bees suddenly have a chance to start climbing towards mid-table safety.

It was far from plain sailing for the home side though as Dinnington held the lead until a superb score from debutant Dennis Tuffour in the 57th minute, converted by James Morton, pushed the home side into a 19-17 lead.

Although Tuffour came off the bench, he showed enough in this performance that he can certainly become a crowd favourite at Wagon Lane as he looked dangerous every time he got his hands on the ball.

These included a couple of long-range breakaways, where he looked capable of running the length of the field, only to be pulled back by a late whistle for an earlier infringement.

The try that Tuffour scored was a gem, featuring three side-steps as the player looked to be falling over his own boots running across the front of the defensive line.

His final jink through a gap near the posts saw him over the whitewash with the Wagon Lane crowd acclaiming a brilliant individual effort.

Tuffour was not the only debutant on show, with Andy Walker starting on the left wing and Dan Jeffries returning to his home-town club after a couple of seasons at Huddersfield.

While rugby league convert Walker appeared to be enjoying his first foray into union, celebrated with a 30th-minute score wide on the left, it was man of the match Jeffries who caught the eye throughout.

He added some real impetus to the home side's play from half-back, and while he has ball carriers like Tom Booth and Tom Cummins inside him in the pack and big runners like Morton, Walker and Tuffour outside him in the backs, the Bees suddenly look to have a dangerous and very direct running game in midfield.

Cummins bumped and barged to some effect up the middle of the park all afternoon and was rewarded with a brace of scores in the 18th and 67th minutes, both from close range but both requiring the No 8 to power through the last line of defence to launch himself at the line.

The second score seemed to be the one which finally ended Dinnington's resistance as their heavyweight tight forwards seemed to visibly tire and the spring in the step of the backline, which brought them two well-taken first-half scores, seemed to diminish.

Louis Fraser added a fifth score for the Wagon Lane men after 75 minutes, and with the home crowd celebrating a fine first home win, Dinnington ended with a final flourish, scoring out wide in the dying moments.