BRADFORD Salem, boosted by several guest players, defeated an under-strength Baildon 31-5 in their annual Boxing Day encounter in front of a healthy crowd at Jenny Lane.

Baildon, who included many second-teamers, had first use of the slope but could only manage a try in first-half stoppage time by Jack McFarland in the left-hand corner.

Salem, who included former Shay Laner Rhys Green (Wharfedale) and a quartet from Bradford & Bingley, went ahead in the 13th minute after a tap penalty by scrum half Ben Hemsley, one of their Bees.

Xander McConville was held just short but hooker James Brown was on hand to plunge over.

The most unusual incident of the match came seven minutes later when 49-year-old Phil Wilson accidentally clashed heads with his son Dan, 28 years younger, with the latter coming off worst, leading to a double change for Baildon.

Prop Isaac Lickley extended Salem’s lead with a try in the 26th minute but Baildon were then reduced to 14 men when Dan Fletcher was shown a yellow card by referee Warren Rimmer for a deliberate knock-on.

But Baildon were undaunted, with centre Ollie Murphy putting them in a prime attacking position with a 50-22 down the slope, which led to McFarland’s try.

Baildon had little chance to show their attacking prowess in the second half with Hemsley dummying and side-stepping his way over for a solo effort nine minutes into the stanza before adding the conversion to make it 17-5.

Then it was mostly about centre Toni Fa who bagged two tries for Salem, with Hemsley and Fa landing the conversions.