BRADFORD Salem suffered their first defeat of 2019 as Old Brodleians’ ability to deal with testing conditions at Woodhead earned them a 15-0 victory in Yorkshire Division One.

Despite the fact Salem had a strong wind at their backs in the first half, Brods made their intentions clear from kick-off as they worked their way upfield following multiple phases of recycled possession.

After defending well in their own 22, Salem finally forced a turnover which allowed full-back Ryan Smith to clear the ball 60 metres downfield.

With five minutes gone, it was Brods’ turn to show their defensive skills, but Salem still had a chance to take the lead when referee James Gray penalised the hosts for being offside.

However, Salem skipper Christian Baines elected to take a quick tap rather than go for three points and the decision looked to have paid off as the visitors launched a wave of attacks on their opponent’s try line.

After Baines was held up over the line, Salem conceded a penalty from the resultant scrum and the hosts were able to relieve the pressure.

It took 25 minutes for the deadlock to be broken as Brods' prop forward, Joe Kafatolu set off on a punishing run before passing inside to supporting number eight Rob Jennings, who showed deceptive pace as he held off the cover defence to score a fine try, which centre Phil Town improved to put the hosts 7-0 ahead.

Things got worse for Salem as, firstly, influential fly-half Danny Belcher was forced to leave the field with a hamstring injury, then, moments later, they were reduced to 14 men when Conor Wood, who had only just come on as a replacement, was yellow-carded for a high tackle.

Although the remainder of the half belonged to Brods, they were unable to add to their tally.

Nevertheless, they would have been more than happy with the seven-point lead at the break with the elements in their favour in the second half.

Within two minutes of the restart Salem scrum-half Jamie Simpson dummied his way past several defenders on a superb 40-metre run, but he became the hero turned villain, when, shortly afterwards, from a penalty, his attempted touchline kick, which would have got the visitors to within striking distance went dead.

To make matters worse, from the scrum, Brods launched an audacious attack from inside their own 22 and excellent handling created sufficient space for full-back Harris Morris to score in the left corner to extend the home side’s lead to 12-0.

Salem’s cause wasn’t helped by injuries to prop Mike MacDonald and centre Kyle Moore.

They were also reduced to 14 men for a second time when Moore’s fellow centre Chris Clough was sin-binned for a high-shot and Town kicked the resultant penalty to give the hosts a 15-point advantage.