Yorkshire Division One: Selby 15 Bradford Salem 11

FOR the second week in succession, Bradford Salem had to settle for a losing bonus point in a Yorkshire Division One game that they could so easily have won.

In ideal playing conditions on a well-kept pitch at Sandhill Lane, Salem conceded three early penalties, two of which were for high tackles and they were lucky not to be punished for these indiscretions as Selby centre Alex Webster pulled a relatively easy penalty kick wide of the uprights.

It was then the home side's turn to be penalised for a high shot, and Salem full back Danny Belcher made no mistake as he struck a penalty from 30 metres to give the visitors a 3-0 lead after 10 minutes.

This seemed to spur Salem into action, and their talented back division began to take advantage of good- quality ball supplied by the forwards.

With just under 20 minutes gone, Salem put together the best play of the game when a superb handling move involving several players created an overlap on the left and debutant winger Kristan Dobson showed plenty of pace as he crossed the line for a fine try to put his side 8-0 ahead.

At this point, Salem looked capable of pulling away but they lost momentum when referee James Gray lost patience over the number of high tackles and sent centre Max Trueman to the sin-bin for pulling an opponent down by his collar.

Salem did not concede any points while down to 14 men, however, but they didn't seem to learn any lessons as soon afterwards vice-captain Harry Hall was guilty of a clumsy challenge on his opposite number and although Hall was justifiably given a yellow card, the Selby fly half, who also got 10 minutes, was perhaps fortunate to avoid a red card for throwing a flurry of retaliatory punches.

Selby nearly scored in the opening minute of the second half but the final pass was ajudged forward.

Selby then reduced to the deficit to 8-3 courtesy of a Webster penalty after a deliberate knock-on by Salem.

With 30 minutes to go, the visitors launched a wave of attacks on the Selby line and, although they were fortunate to get away with a blatant knock-on, they were penalised for holding on and this allowed Selby to relieve the pressure.

Salem received a scare when New Zealand prop forward Callum King went down with what looked like a serious knee injury.

However, thankfully, he was able to resume after some lengthy treatment from Salem physio Hannah Burke.

In the final 20 minutes, Selby made some tactical substitutions in the front row and the decision to bring on some fresh legs seemed to pay dividends as suddenly the home pack started to get on top in the scrums.

With Salem on the back foot, spending most of the time defending, the pressure was always likely to tell and with 27 minutes of the second half gone, a brilliant offload in midfield sent second-rower Steven Clarke racing clear to dot down under the sticks for a try that was improved by Webster to get the hosts to within a point at 11-10.

From then on there was really only one team in it and, after more pressure on their opponents' line, Selby took the lead for the first time when prop Millar McCoy forced his way over from a maul.

Salem's day was summed up when from the restart, scrum half Jamie Simpson's speculative short drop-out took an unkindly bounce and the ball landed straight in the hands of a Selby player which gained the hosts the territory they needed to close out a deserved 15-11 victory.