THERE were some anxious moments for Bradford & Bingley as the clock ticked into the final few minutes of their home game with struggling Pocklington in North One East, but they eventually held on to win 27-20.

The Bees were reduced to 14 after Corey Spencer was sin binned, before the visitors were awarded a penalty try with eight minutes remaining.

Fortunately for the hosts, that was the end of the scoring, as they secured their fifth league win in eight games.

The Wagons Laners were perhaps guilty of choosing route one, straight up the middle, when there appeared to be wide spaces out on the wings for their backs to make use of.

Despite their shortcomings with ball in hand, the Bees had an in-form kicker in Lance Taylor, whose 17 points from the tee kept the scoreboard moving.

The visitors seemed to suffer a string of injuries, but they still held their own, particularly in the second half, which they began 21-6 down.

Although the Bees seemed overly keen to use the battering ram approach, both first half scores came from backs, as Jack Malthouse cantered home after six minutes to open the scoring and Semi Maasi improved the lead to 18-6 in the 31st minute.

Between those two scores, the kickers from both sides had a number of successful shots at goal, with Taylor landing three penalties and a conversion, and Pocklington's full back landing two three pointers in reply.

Scrum half Ben Hockenhull remained busy around the rucks and mauls and kept a high tempo, as the Bees bumped and barged into the Pocklington defence.

Although the visiting defence looked solid enough, one B&B player who looked likely to break through via route one was Alex Keeton, marking his seasonal debut with a bustling performance.

He did receive a yellow card on 42 minutes but that setback did not immediately stall the home side, as Taylor stepped up to slot another penalty and improve the lead to 24-6.

The Bees seemed to be making increasingly hard work of it though, and the Pocklington hooker went over for a converted try on 59 minutes, pulling his side to within 11 points

Although Taylor increased the hosts' lead with another penalty five minutes later, the Wagon Laners were by no means home and hosed, despite having the lion's share of territory and possession for the opening three quarters of the contest.

With the penalty try coming on 72 minutes, Pocklington were clearly now in with a shout of pulling out a least a draw from the game, but the Bees did enough to finish the match in front and take the four points for a win.