Yorkshire Division One: Scarborough 48 Bradford Salem 14

WITH several key players withdrawing late due to injuries or work, Bradford Salem knew thgat they faced a difficult task at third-placed Scarborough in Yorkshire Division One.

However, although at one point in the first half the visitors looked like they were in for a trouncing, they showed great spirit and determination to match their opponents in the second half.

On an excellently prepared pitch in surprisingly still conditions at Silver Royd, Salem were up against it from the off, and only some desperate cover defence from winger Henry Brown and full back Ryan Smith prevented Scarborough from scoring in the first passage of play.

Scarborough continued to launch a succession of attacks in their opponents' 22 but, with five minutes gone, they had to be content with three points courtesy of a penalty by fly half Tom Harrison after Salem were caught offside.

The hosts then scored three tries in quick succession, and with a lead of 22 points in as many minutes it looked like Salem were in for a long afternoon.

However, to their credit, they dug deep and they were unlucky to go 29-0 down before half-time as hooker Sam Dawson seemed to lose the ball in the act of scoring.

Salem had a good spell of pressure early in the second half but a dropped pass allowed Scarborough to clear their lines.

After missing this scoring opportunity, Salem were hit with a sucker punch as Scarborough broke away to score a fifth try to extend their lead to 36 points.

The visitors then went 41-0 behind in mysterious circumstances as referee Jim Saunders appeared to give Salem a penalty but, to the bafflement of virtually everyone in the ground (including Scarborough’s tannoy announcer), he then awarded a try to the home side.       

Despite this, Salem refused to throw in the towel, and with 25 minutes of the half played, Latvian international hooker Gundars Griekis gave his side a huge lift as he not only stole a ball against the head but was also in support to drive centre Conor Wood over the line for a try that was improved by skipper and fly half Andy Robinson.

Salem were visibly lifted by this and were in charge for the next 15 minutes.

The pressure eventually told as good handling enabled Smith to score a try, improved by Robinson, to reduce the deficit to 41-14.

From the restart, which was the last play of the game, Griekis, who otherwise had an excellent match, unfortunately dropped the ball, and, cruelly, Scarborough broke away to score a converted try to seal victory.