BRADFORD Salem seem to have a habit of conceding early points on their visits to, Dinnington and Saturday's game was no exception, as they lost 40-5 to stay stuck at the foot of Yorkshire One.

Playing up the slope, Salem received the kick-off, only to spill the ball in the very first passage of play.

Dinnington immediately went on the attack, and, after several phases, big number eight, Dean Macaulay, broke through a number of would-be tacklers on his way to the line to put the hosts 5-0 up.

Although fly-half Chris Williams missed the difficult conversion he soon made amends with two successful penalties to increase the home side's lead to 11 points with 12 minutes gone.

Salem began to get back into the game but unfortunately two long-range penalty attempts by skipper Jake Green missed the target.

After Green, Xander McConville and Ed Cook had all gone close, Salem knocked on, enabling their opponents to clear the ball to halfway.

A further knock on by Salem then gifted Dinnington possession and excellent handling in the backs created a try on the left to extend the home side's lead to 16-0.

Dinnington were back on the attack straight from the restart and a break and offload by full-back Kieran Phillips sent centre Kai Ramrattan sprinting under the sticks to score.

Williams added the simple conversion to extend his side's advantage to 23 points and then, to make matters worse, Salem winger Byron Lisle was sent to the sin-bin for a trip.

With half-time approaching, Salem, despite being a man down, had their best scoring opportunity, but Glenn Morrison's looping pass to winger Ben Shaw, who had the line at his mercy, was judged to have gone forward.

Deep into first-half injury-time, Dinnington had their opponents pinned on their own line and the pressure eventually told, as scrum-half Oliver Breedon dummied his way over from close range to give the hosts a commanding 28-0 lead at the break.

Playing with the slope in the second half, Salem were soon on the attack, after Morrison forced a turnover.

Slick handling then created an overlap on the left but winger Tom Hopper, who had come on for the injured Shaw, was hauled down short of the line.

However, Salem continued to press, and they were finally rewarded when Fin Southcott, who had an outstanding game, forced his way over from a catch and drive to reduce the deficit to 28-5.

For the next 20 minutes, Salem were the better side, but they missed out on the scoring opportunities needed to get themselves back into the game.

With just over 15 minutes remaining, the inevitable happened, as some poor defending on the blindside allowed Dinnington to score a try to give them an unassailable 33-5 lead.

In the closing minutes both Morrison and McConville missed clear chances to score and, as if to rub salt in the wound, it was Dinnington who had the last say.

Some great off-loading in the tackle led to a converted try to seal an emphatic 40-5 victory.

Although Salem remain rooted to the bottom of the league, they have an opportunity to move up the table if they beat fellow strugglers Leodiensian in a crucial game at Shay Lane this Saturday.