Bradford & Bingley 37, Waterloo 37

The three points that Bradford & Bingley garnered from this National League Two game yesterday lifted the Wagon Lane men out of the bottom three.

But everyone in the Bees camp will surely see this as a clear opportunity for their first win of the season squandered.

This was very much a case of the home side gifting their visitors the lead and then having to chase the game to claim the draw.

In reality, the amount of possession the home side enjoyed should have seen them home by a comfortable margin.

The Bees have set out their stall this season to play an up-tempo game based around creating broken-field situations where they can exploit open spaces and create scoring opportunities from the ensuing havoc.

On an absolutely glorious day, which matched any of this miserable summer for sunshine, the Bees could offer no excuses for not delivering the gameplan.

Unfortunately, on the other side of the ledger, the Bees cannot afford to forget to tackle their opponents as the amount of open play the Bees generate often leaves the back door open.

This inability to cover out wide meant that the visiting three-quarters could hardly believe their luck as they galloped in four times in opening 40 minutes with their only significant attacks.

The scores came from James O'Brien on 12 and 23 minutes, Ian Moran on 17 minutes and Liam Reeve on 31 minutes, all of the scores essentially down to the abysmal cover in the Bees defence.

The game opened in the best possible fashion for the home side as a swift move along the back line ended with Tom Cokell crashing over within 90 seconds of the kick-off.

The Bees looked to have the upper hand in the early exchanges but were swiftly undone by their defensive frailty.

On top of this woeful defensive display in the first half, fly half Tom Davidson also left his kicking boots at home and failed with seven of his shots at goal - three penalties, two drop goals and two conversions missing the mark, two bouncing back off a post.

However, the young tyro had a solid enough game with the ball in hand and, as he adjusts to life at this level, his partnership with scrum half Mark Gemmill can only improve.

Gemmill himself got on the scoresheet for the Bees with a smartly-taken try, and was only a fingertip away from collecting a second when he burst through onto his own kick, only to spill the ball with the line at his mercy.

The sides turned round at 28-19 in favour of the visitors, but with the Bees playing with the slight slope and wind, it was still all to play for.

The home side battled gamely but three penalties from the visiting fly half kept Waterloo tantalisingly out of reach until the game reached its final few minutes.

Wingman Tom Gough scooted in for his second try of the game with less than five minutes left on the clock, and Bees skipper Ryan Wederall added another five-pointer as time expired.

Both sides then had chances to win the game deep into injury time, but as both fly halves fired wide of the uprights, the draw was ultimately the correct result as the visitors took the chances they were given and the Bees failed to capitalise on all theirs.