Bradford & Bingley 42

Kendal 10

Kendal arrived at Wagon Lane with a reputation as bogey opponents.

Those with long memories will remember the Cumbrians' last competitive trip to Bingley.

That was on April 30, 1994 and the prize at stake in a 'winner-take-all' clash was survival in National League Five North.

The Bees led 22-3 at half-time and all seemed well, but they lost an amazing second half 31-0 and never regained national status until this season.

And even at Mint Bridge last October, the Bees reserved one of their worst performances of the current campaign, losing 22-14.

So you could not blame the supporters for thinking "here we go again" when Kendal took a 10-3 lead after 31 minutes in the reverse fixture at Wagon Lane on Saturday.

By half-time, however, the Bees were 18-10 ahead and, with coach Geoff Wappett's interval words still ringing in their ears, they won the second half 24-0 to claw back another point on second-placed Macclesfield as they continued their dogged pursuit of a play-off place.

South African prop Rudi Brits, the latest of Bradford and Bingley's overseas contingent, said of their bid to overhaul the Cheshire side: "We are going for it.

"We will have to win every game and Macclesfield will have to lose one, but let's bring it on.

"Our last two fixtures are at home to leaders Halifax and away to Macclesfield. But we are a good team and we can match anyone in the league."

Brits does not know whether he will be back with the Bees next season, adding that much depends on how he fares in South Africa's Currie Cup competition.

The Wagon Lane pitch is a credit to groundsman Mark Heap, but with conditions squelchy underfoot, there were plenty of early knock-ons and the Bees had to survive an initial Kendal surge after the hosts failed to deal with the kick-off.

Kendal lost No 8 Mark Bowman to a recurring rib injury in the sixth minute, and three minutes later they were behind to a Tom Rhodes penalty after left winger Joey Nau had launched a counter-attack.

In the 12th minute, visiting full back Simon Mulholland showed his counter-attacking skills, and on his third venture into Bees territory eight minutes later he created a try for left winger Luke Ladell.

In the 31st minute, Ladell was over again, this time after a subtle chip over Ben Greaves's head.

Five minutes later the hosts showed good continuity in the wet conditions as centre Richard Tafa went over for a try, and Tom Rhodes crossed three minutes later.

However, a Kendal player slid into the Bees skipper with his knees after he had scored, and there was a dust-up which ended with home flanker Latu Makaafa being shown the yellow card for punching.

Right winger Joe Simpson landed a superb conversion as Tom Rhodes was still feeling dizzy, but he had recovered enough to land a penalty in the fourth minute of first-half injury time.

Short passes by Tom Rhodes certainly reaped their reward in the second half, and Tafa completed his hat-trick by running on to flat passes from his skipper in the 44th and 58th minutes.

Tom Rhodes converted the latter for 30-10 and vice-captain Bloues Volschenk showed his determination to grind every score out of Kendal by crossing in the 68th and 77th minutes, the former from a long Simpson pass and the latter from the base of a scrum. Tom Rhodes converted the last try.