BRADFORD Salem moved up to eighth in Yorkshire One with a well-earned 29-24 victory over Leodiensian.

On a windy day at Shay Lane, hosts Salem dominated the opening exchanges but a penalty for a no arms tackle by skipper Christian Baines allowed Leos to relieve the pressure.

After two further penalties against Salem enabled Leos to launch a series of attacks on their opponents’ line, the pressure told as fast hands created a try in the right corner to give the visitors an early 5-0 lead.

Leos’ then conceded two penalties and, following a quick tap by Baines, flanker Nick Fontaine was on hand to cross from close range. Matt Booth’s successful conversion put the home side 7-5 in front.

However, the lead proved to be short-lived as, after turning over possession straight from the restart, Leos’ fly-half Ed Farmer scored a try, which he converted himself, to put the Leeds side 12-7 ahead.

Salem levelled quickly when Baines powered over from a driving maul, and, although Leos missed a clear-cut scoring chance shortly after, the teams went into the break with the scores level at 12-12.

A huge Booth clearance straight from the kick off got Salem deep into opposition territory, and, from the ensuing line-out, Leos suffered a major blow as their influential second rower, Tom Pigott, was sent to the sin-bin for dropping a maul.

With a one-man advantage, Salem piled on the pressure and prop Pete Tennet crossed the line from a driving maul to give the hosts a 17-12 advantage.

Salem soon extended their lead further when some excellent off-loading created a two on one and Baines made no mistake as he put centre Glenn Morrison through for a fine try, which Booth improved to make it 24-12.

But they were reduced to 14 men when Morrison received a yellow card for what appeared to be a chest-high tackle.

Leos took full advantage, as scrum half Chris Little darted over from a quick tap to reduce the deficit to 24-17.

Despite still being a man down, Salem hit back immediately when man of the match Fontaine followed up a strong run by Tim Makaafi to score his second try, Booth added the extras to give the hosts a 29-19 lead.

With 15 minutes left, Leos were gifted a try when they intercepted a loose pass by Salem second rower Rhys Green, and, with Farmer’s conversion reducing the arrears to 29-24, the visitors were back in the hunt.

Things got worse for Salem when Baines was sin-binned for a second no arms tackle, meaning his side were forced to play the final 10 minutes with 14 men.

However, Salem defended magnificently for the remainder of the game, as they managed to close out the victory. They visit relegation-threatened Pontefract on Saturday.