Bradford & Bingley 10 Manchester 18

The Bees were already missing two key men in Barry Clark and Neil Spence going into this fixture but were forced to make a hasty reshuffle right on kick-off as centre Stuart Dixon succumbed to a groin injury.

The last-minute rejig of the backline certainly didn't help the home side settle and it seemed Manchester were able to get into their stride much quicker in the opening exchanges.

Playing into the downpour that never relented all afternoon, it was obvious from the start that the Bees would have little chance to get the ball wide - as is their usual style - and the game was never going to be a free-flowing exhibition, which is what the Wagon Lane crowd can come to expect in National League Two.

The visitors adapted well to the monsoon conditions and seemed to be able to execute their options better than their hosts throughout.

The Bees game-plan appeared to be to keep things tight in the first half as they battled into the rain and then to capitalise on the wind at their backs in the second.

However, the plan was undermined by some poor kicks to touch and an inadequate performance in the line-out as Manchester were always able to return a Bees kick with interest and stole stream of possession from the set-piece.

The Bees held out for 11 minutes before the Manchester pack ploughed over the home line for the opening score. Nicholas Plynn emerged from a pile of bodies as the scorer.

A second score on 20 minutes from David Wood and a penalty on 27 by Gareth Wynne meant that the sides turned round at 15-0.

The home crowd knew their side had the attacking wherewithal to pull back a 15-point deficit and when Tom Rhodes pegged back three points with a penalty after two minutes, it looked like a winning start to life in this higher division was possible.

Bees skipper Rhodes then neatly sidestepped his opposite number to add a try to the Bees tally on 58 minutes and, with a conversion safely added, they had 20 minutes to find another score to wrap up the victory.

Although they began to gain the upper hand, the failure of the line-out to secure any position constantly undermined each Bees journey into Manchester territory and it was left to Gareth Wynnne to round off the scoring with a 78th-minute penalty for the visitors.