Yorkshire Division One: Bradford Salem 42 Old Brodleians 20

CENTRE Danny Belcher landed a perfect 10 out of 10 in a personal haul of 27 points as Bradford Salem ended a five-match losing run against local rivals Old Brodleians in Yorkshire Division One.

In ideal playing conditions at Shay Lane, the home side gained an early initiative as they took the first scrum against the head.

Brods were then penalised for a high tackle, and Belcher's first success from the tee gave his side a 3-0 lead after just three minutes.

Although Salem were denied a try when the final pass was adjudged forward, they soon increased their advantage to six points courtesy of a second Belcher penalty after the visitors were guilty of holding on in a tackle.

With 14 minutes gone, it was Salem's turn to be penalised for holding on as full back Max Trueman tried to run the ball from inside his own 22 when a kick was probably the better option.

As a result, Brods found themselves in good field position, and, in their first meaningful attack, centre Michael Briggs showed good strength as he crossed the line to get his side back to within a point at 6-5..

Despite creating a number of clear-cut chances, the final pass seemed to let Salem down, and they had to be content with two further Belcher penalties to make it 12-5.

Brods then suffered a double blow when second-rower Pete Williams and captain and No 8 Rob Jennings had to leave the field with injuries, and Salem took advantage as Belcher sent supporting scrum half Jamie Simpson scampering under the posts.

To make matters worse for the visitors, winger Morris Harris injured himself while desperately attempting to prevent the try, and, because he made contact with Simpson's head, referee Jeff Hudson had no alternative but to give him a yellow card.

Belcher converted to put Salem 19-5 in front and, with half-time approaching, Brods suffered a further blow as they were reduced to 13 men when centre Matt Carbutt joined Harris in the bin.

Despite having a two-man advantage, Salem found themselves defending their own line straight from the restart as flanker Mike Macdonald misjudged the kick and allowed the ball to bounce into touch.

Salem lost the resultant line-out on their own throw, and swift handling created sufficient space for full back Matty Hoyle to score in the left corner to reduce the arrears to 19-10.

A fifth successful penalty from Belcher gave Salem some breathing space, and only some last-gasp defending prevented Salem centre Ryan Smith from scoring.

After Brods fly half Joe Potter and Belcher traded penalties to take the score to 25-13, it was Salem's turn to show their defensive qualities as they somehow managed to hold their opponents up over the line.

Having weathered the storm, a great turnover allowed Salem to launch a counter-attack, and a fine break and off-load from Kristan Dobson, who had moved from wing to fly half following an injury to Harry Hall, sent Smith under the posts for an excellent try that was improved by Belcher to give the Heaton side a healthy 32-13 lead.

However, Smith was then hero turned villain as he was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock on.

With a man extra and with 10 minutes remaining, Brods started to pile on the pressure, and only a try-saving tackle by Salem second-rower Rhys Green, who incredibly managed to stop flanker Ben Hoyle from grounding the ball, prevented the Hipperholme side from adding to their tally.

But the reprieve proved short-lived as winger Jason Dodd cut through on the next play to score a try that was improved by Potter to give the visitors some hope with the score at 32-20.

Salem, though, were not to be denied and, once they were returned to a full complement, they began to reassert themselves.

After a lengthy period of pressure on their opponents' line, Salem skipper and No 8 Christian Baines drove over the whitewash from close range, with Belcher adding the extras to extend the home side's lead to 39-20. Belcher then kicked his seventh penalty with the last kick off the game to preserve his 100 per cent record with the boot and seal a 42-20 victory.