Leodiensian 12

Bradford Salem 27

Bradford Salem continued their unbeaten run with an emphatic win at Leodiensian.

With last year's loss in the Powergen Vase still haunting them, Salem started in determined fashion and after only two minutes good recycled possession resulted in South African centre Matt Lloyd slicing through the midfield defence then rounding the full back for an excellent try.

Fly half Matt Booth converted, and Salem's pack continued to pile on the pressure, Leos conceding a penalty which Booth converted for 10-0.

However, despite dominating in the forwards, Salem began to make simple errors and this, together with indiscipline, allowed Leos' fly half and captain Dan Eddie to kick three penalties to make it 10-9. Nevertheless, Salem responded well and, after gaining good territory, No 8 Mark Viner scored a trademark pushover try from a five-metre scrum to take his season's tally to five. Booth's conversion made the score 17-9.

With the wind in their favour, Salem expected to pile on the points in the second half. But Leos scored first when Eddie kicked a penalty.

However, the pressure told after 60 minutes when Dave Howcroft gathered an attempted quick drop-out by Eddie and linked with fellow second-half replacement Simon Markey, who scored to make it 22-12. With five minutes left, blindside flanker Darren Close drove over from a line-out.