Yorkshire Division One: North Ribblesdale 17 Bradford Salem 24

BRADFORD Salem eased their Yorkshire Division One relegation worries with a hard-fought 24-17 victory over fellow strugglers North Ribblesdale.

The pitch at Grove Park was in an excellent state and held up well, although the players had to contend with frequent snowstorms throughout the game, which meant that, at times, conditions were extremely testing - particularly for the team playing into the icy wind.

The hosts had an opportunity to take an early lead when West Yorkshire Society referee Laurence Pearson penalised Salem for holding on in the first minute.

However, Ribb fly half and captain Jonny Moore pulled the relatively simple penalty attempt wide of the uprights.

A break from Salem scrum half Jamie Simpson got the visitors within metres of their opponents' line but a knock-on gave Ribblesdale on opportunity to clear the ball.

After winning a scrum against the head, Ribb began to pile on the pressure and, from a five-metre scrum, fast hands created just enough space for their right winger to evade the tackle of opposite number Martins Bokiss as he squeezed over in the corner to give the hosts a 5-0 lead with 15 minutes gone.

Salem then suffered a setback when the influential Andy Robinson had to leave the field with a back injury, with Callum Armstrong replacing him at fly half.

However, following another strong break by Simpson, Salem launched a series of attacks on the opposition line, and eventually No 8 and skipper Christian Baines drove over from close-range to score a try that was improved by Armstrong to put the visitors 7-5 ahead.

Flanker Sam Savage then made a fine break from the restart and sent supporting full back Ryan Smith scampering over for try, with Armstrong adding the extras to increase the visitors' lead to 14-5.

With half-time approaching, Salem were penalised immediately from the kick-off reception, which allowed the hosts to get to within striking distance.

However, desperate defence from Salem somehow prevented their opponents getting over the line.

In the first five minutes of the second half, Salem conceded a series of penalties and, after gaining territory, North Ribblesdale scored a try to reduce the deficit to 14-10.

Salem had chances to extend their lead, but firstly winger Jake Abram was unable to hold on to a pass from Baines, who had broken down the right flank, and then Armstrong missed a long-range penalty.

With about 20 minutes of the second half played, there was a worrying incident when referee Pearson was badly shaken after he accidentally ran into the elbow of a Ribblesdale player.

Thankfully, however, following a lengthy stoppage, the referee was passed fit to continue following treatment by the medical staff of both clubs.

Salem were obviously unaffected by this unexpected delay, as, in the first passage of play after the game resumed, an attempted clearance kick by Ribb was charged down and Armstrong won the chase to the ball to score a try to give the visitors a 19-10 lead.

Unfortunately, Salem were once again penalised for offside from the restart, and further pressure from Ribblesdale earned them a try, with Moore's first success with the boot getting the North Yorkshire side back to within two points at 19-17.

To make matters worse for Salem, centre Nick Fontaine was sent to the sin-bin for backchat, meaning that they had to play the remainder of the game with 14 men.

To their credit, Salem dug deep and, with the wind and snow at their backs, they were soon camped on their opponents' line.

The pressure was always likely to tell, and second-rower Elliott Cousins drove over to score Salem's fourth try to put them 24-17 in front.

The only downside in an otherwise highly competitive and incident-free contest was a minor altercation between Salem centre Conor Wood and a North Ribblesdale player in the dying seconds.

When the two players, who were uninjured, shook hands after the incident, both clubs expected the referee to issue yellow cards before ending the game.

However, instead, he chose to issue red cards, which dampened Salem's celebrations as they ran out 24-17 winners to gain five vital league points in their quest for survival.