Baildon proved a thorn in the side for second-placed Thornensians in Yorkshire Division Four, running out 23-13 wimmers.

The visitors, who beat Baildon 49-10 in September, must have thought they would be in for another convincing victory, and nothing happened in the first ten minutes to alter that view.

Baildon, asked to play downhill with the wind, were behind to a try by winger Dave Martindale after six minutes.

But slowly Baildon gelled, and being on the right end of a 9-5 penalty count helped with a referee they had suffered from at Wetherby in December.

The good work was rewarded by a try from No 8 Nick Murphy, converted by Haydon Lister.

Five minutes later Lister landed a penalty from near half-way, and Baildon's backs then combined for Matt Oddy to crash over in the corner, Lister again converting.

Thorne reduced the arrears with a Chris Potts penalty, but ten minutes into the second half their open-side prop was sin-binned for 'refereeing'. Baildon replaced hard-working second row Matt Waddington with Richard Holden, only to for Martindale to score his second try to reduce the deficit to it 17-13 in the 74th minute.

Thornensians piled on the pressure, but Baildon held firm, their backs breaking from their own half after solid pack work.

The Thorne prop returned, only to leave permanently six minutes later, again apparently for 'advising' the referee. This followed a first-class try by Lister after rugged forward play, the full back converting.