Yorkshire Division One: Bradford Salem 0 York 19

BRADFORD Salem gave runaway leaders York a real fright at Shay Lane, but two tries in quick succession midway through the second half eventually earned the Yorkshire Division One front-runners a deserved 19-0 victory.

On a bitterly cold afternoon, both sides found it difficult to break down well-organised defences.

However, York put a marker down after just under five minutes when, in their first visit to their opponent’s 22, turnover ball at a line-out gave second-rower Luke Stockton an opportunity to crash over from a driving maul to give the visitors a 5-0 lead.

There was no further scoring for the remainder of the first half and, although Salem had most of the territorial advantage, they never really looked like breaking through the very well-organised York defensive line.

Although York dominated the set-pieces, their ill-discipline resulted in a string of penalties against them.

Eventually, West Yorkshire Society referee Laurence Pearson lost patience with York’s persistent infringement at the breakdown and sent blind-side flanker Lewis Hannibal to the sin-bin.

After ten minutes of the second half, York were becoming increasingly frustrated by the penalty count against them but there was a swing in momentum when fly half Harry Hall, who was skippering Salem for the first time in the absence of Andy Robinson and Christian Baines, failed to find touch.

From the resulting line-out, York got to within striking distance of the opposition line and No 8 Shane Goulding drove over from a five-metre scrum, centre Jon Dawes' conversion putting the visitors 12-0 ahead.

For the first time in the game, York had their tails up and they started to show a glimpse of why they are sitting at the top of the table.

After a series of attacks in Salem’s 22, some swift handling in the backs created enough space for winger Gareth Singleton to force his way over in the left corner, with Dawes' magnificent touchline conversion giving the visitors a commanding 19-0 lead.

With 15 minutes remaining, a good, competitive game was slightly marred when a sickening collision between Salem winger Martin Bokiss and York scrum half Toby Atkins left both players motionless on the floor.

Thankfully, after five minutes, both players were helped to their feet, although neither took any further part in the game.

To their credit, Salem managed to stem the tide and they became just the second side to deny York a four-try bonus point.

Salem’s only disappointment was the fact that, during a final onslaught, they were unable to score the try they probably deserved as York’s resolute defence held out.