Bradford Salem 16

Pocklington 13

Second-placed Bradford Salem were sitting comfortably at half-time in this Yorkshire Division Two clash at Shay Lane.

But a combination of factors led to fourth-placed Pockling-ton threatening to pinch the points with the last attack of the match.

Salem's spectators, who had been put through the grinder in the second half, watched open-mouthed as the visitors put together a cutting move down the hosts' right flank in the third minute of injury time.

But after Salem full back Jonathan Jacobs had shoved the attacker into touch, referee Oliver Dixon (Yorkshire Society) blew the final whistle.

"What we did in the first half got us through in the second half," confessed Jason France, standing in as skipper for the injured Simon Davies, who is still at least two weeks away from a comeback.

"We did what we said we would do in the first half. We kicked from our own 22 and put the pressure on them in their 22. But in the second half we rested on our laurels, al-though we didn't expect them to play as badly in the second half as they had in the first."

Pocklington certainly played better after the break but Salem's discipline was not what it should be and that also put the pressure on.

France admitted: "We went to pieces a bit discipline-wise in the second half, and I was the worst offender of all.

"I got a warning and two infringements after that I was yellow-carded but the lads did the business when I was away.

"Technically we could have done better but there was nothing wrong with our spirit."

Pocklington's player-coach, former Otley centre Guy Hope, said: "All credit to Bradford Salem. We played a little bit more football in the second half but Salem defended very well and they are very hard to beat at home."

Potentially this was a tough match but Salem didn't make it look like that by taking a 10-0 lead inside ten minutes.

Pocklington second row Stewart Rowley was offside as early as the second minute, Salem fly half Matt Booth landing the penalty.

And eight minutes later the visitors, not for the only time in the match, dropped the ball in midfield and the home centres did the rest.

South African Matt Lloyd hacked it on and Richard Langhorn showed good pace and control, kicking ahead himself before diving on the ball for the try.

Booth converted and, after fellow fly half Nicholas Bennett had missed a penalty for Pocklington, Langhorn's pace almost had the visitors in trouble again, forcing them to concede a five-metre scrum.

And the third time of asking, all after different infringements at five-metre scrums, Pocklington conceded a kickable penalty, which Booth slotted to make it 13-0 in the 22nd minute.

Jacobs almost went over in the right-hand corner five minutes later, and five minutes after that Bennett got Pocklington on the board after Salem were offside.

But right on half-time, Booth landed a long-range penalty to give Salem a 13-point cushion.

The second half was largely an exercise in frustration for everyone concerned with Salem.

France conceded a penalty in the 49th minute by handling in the maul, Bennett banging over the kick, and Pockling-ton's pressure continued to mount as the hosts lost their way.

The Salem skipper's ten-minute rest started in the 57th minute, but the numbers were levelled up four minutes later when Pocklington's No 8 Daniel Wilson was sin-binned after a fracas with Lloyd.

Lloyd almost got away for an interception try in the 66th minute, but it was Pocklington who were applying the general pressure and Salem were indebted to the tidying-up work of flanker Steve Cowman on more than one occasion.

The match had an unusual conclusion. Bennett hit the left-hand upright with a 79th-minute penalty, then hit the same post two minutes later, flanker Scott Littlefair crashing over for the try from the rebound.

Bennett landed the conversion to cut the margin to three points, and it needed Jacobs' last-minute, almost last-ditch cover tackle to keep Salem in front.

Looking at the season as a whole, however, Salem cannot be that unhappy.

They have won six out of seven and are in a promotion place, two points behind leaders Sheffield Tigers.

However, France said: "We have temporarily lost Simon Davies, which is a massive blow, but even so we haven't played to how we want.

"We'll just have to batten down the hatches until Simon gets back in the front row and Matt Booth is back to full fitness."