Yorkshire Division One: Bradford Salem 33 Selby 26

WITH a team depleted by injuries and unavailabilities, Bradford Salem were happy to register a bonus-point win against Yorkshire Division One strugglers Selby.

In ideal playing conditions at Shay Lane, it was the visitors who got off to the better start, and, after turning over possession in their opponents' 22, Selby scored wide out on the left, with centre Ian Fox landing the conversion to give his side a 7-0 lead after just eight minutes.

Although Salem were finding it hard going in the set-pieces, a nicely-timed short pass by skipper and fly half Andy Robinson sent full back Ryan Smith scorching through a gap, and the classy former Wibsey Warriors star outpaced the cover to score a brilliant individual try to get the hosts back to 7-5.

Salem, however, were soon on the defensive again, and only a great last-ditch cover tackle by Latvian scrum half Martins Bokiss prevented Selby from extending their lead.

It was then winger Henry Brown's turn to come to Salem's rescue as he just managed to get to the ball first following a dangerous kick and chase, and, although referee Dave Downham sin-binned the former Baildon player for holding on, some excellent defending by the Bradford side kept their opponents at bay.

Having weathered the storm and, despite being down to 14 men, Salem took a slender 8-7 lead after 35 minutes courtesy of a Robinson penalty.

However, following some poor decision making in their 22, Salem failed to clear their lines and this allowed Selby to score another try out wide to give the visitors a 12-8 advantage at the break.

From the restart, Salem started to put some patterns together and they got their reward when veteran hooker Simon Markey drove over from a catch and drive.

Robinson missed the conversion but made amends with a penalty, which put the hosts 16-12 ahead.

Midway through the second half, Salem were beginning to get on top, and, after a period of pressure, No 8 Christian Baines powered over for a trademark try, with Robinson landing a magnificent touchline conversion to extend the lead to 23-12.

Robinson was on target again with a penalty after Selby were penalised for a high shot, and with the score now at 26-12 with just over ten minutes remaining, Salem looked to have the game in the bag.

Selby, however, had other ideas, and great handling from a counter-attack earned them a converted try to get them back to within a score at 26-19.

With time ticking away, Salem looked like they had made the game safe when winger Nick Fontaine scored following a break by Robinson, who added the extras to give his side a 33-19 lead.

Selby were still not done, however, and although Smith seemed to be in the clear in what was the last play of the game, his sloppy attempted inside pass to Fontaine allowed the visitors to regain possession, and they broke away to score a fourth try to give a final scoreline of 33-26.

This gave Selby two valuable losing bonus points which, despite being handed to them on a plate, on reflection, their efforts probably deserved.