Yorkshire Division One: Bradford Salem 18 Old Brodleians 20

BRADFORD Salem suffered a gut-wrenching defeat as Old Brodleians scored in the fifth minute of injury time to take the spoils in an exciting and evenly contested Yorkshire Division One game.

Once again, the pitch at Shay Lane was remarkably firm, despite earlier heavy rain, but the wet and windy conditions were always testing.

Salem had the better of the earlier exchanges but missed an opportunity to go in front after 10 minutes when fly half Matt Booth’s penalty attempt drifted wide of the uprights.

However, the hosts continued to press and took the lead on 16 minutes following a try which was almost a carbon copy of a try scored against Scarborough the previous week.

Again, full back Danny Belcher was the provider as his half-break and inside pass sent supporting flanker Nick Fontaine scampering under the sticks, with Belcher himself adding the extras to put the home side 7-0 ahead.

Unfortunately, Latvian winger Martins Bokiss dropped the ball straight from the restart, and, from the resultant scrum, centre Phil Town burst through some weak tackling to score a try that he improved himself to level matters at 7-7.

Salem soon regained the advantage when swift handling in the backs created space on the right and winger Ryan Smith showed great pace as he rounded his opposite number to score an excellent try to give his side a 12-7 advantage.

However, Salem allowed their opponents to get back into the game as their indiscipline started to let them down.

South Yorkshire Society referee Dean Walker awarded a series of penalties against them, and Old Brods took full advantage when winger Chris Vine was awarded a try in the left corner to bring the scores level again at 12-12.

With half-time approaching, Brods were caught offside and Belcher kicked the penalty to give Salem a 15-12 lead at the break.

The game began to get a bit feisty in the second half, and both teams were reduced to 14 men as Brods full back Matty Hoyle and Salem flanker Sam Savage were sent to the sin-bin within a minute of each other.

Some unnecessary high tackles by Salem led to them conceding more penalties, and, although on the first occasion, Brods opted to go for touch rather than try for the three points, on the second occasion they decided to take the points on offer, which levelled the scores for the third time.

With 20 minutes remaining, Brods were penalised for a high shot on Salem centre Andy Robinson, and the home side took an 18-15 lead courtesy of a second successful Belcher penalty.

With the game drawing to a close, Salem looked like toughing out a famous win.

In fact, at the end of normal time, victory seemed assured when Fontaine won the chase to the ball from a kick through.

However, the referee deemed that the ball had not been grounded correctly, with the reprieve giving Brods one last chance.

Although there was more than a suspicion of a knock-on from the quick tap at the 22-metre restart, a break from Town, continued by Hoyle, got Brods into opposition territory.

To make matters worse for Salem, not only did they concede two penalties but they also lost skipper Christian Baines, who was yellow carded for a high shot.

A huge kick from fly half Danny Cole got Brods to within five metres of the try line and, from the ensuing catch and drive, Brods rumbled towards the line.

Despite the ball being under a pile of bodies, referee Walker, after taking what seemed an age to make his mind up, eventually decided that a try had been scored and Brods ran out 20-18 victors on the very last play.