Skipton hopes of causing an upset at second-placed Bradford Salem were squashed in the opening stages of their game at Shay Lane, where the home side took an early grip on proceedings and never allowed the Sandylands men to get within striking distance as they claimed a 41-12 win.

A personal haul of 26 points from fly-half Matthew Booth was an individual contribution Skipton could not match after a slow start left them 17-0 down within 10 minutes.

A long clearance kick by ex-Bradford & Bingley stand-off Matthew Booth found touch deep in the Skipton half, Salem stole the lineout and a strong forward drive saw the home side take a 7-0 lead after five minutes.

Skipton were unable to establish any pattern due to a succession of unforced errors and infringements and were driven back time and again by the boot of Booth, who from one penalty award increased the lead to 10-0.

Skipton's lineout was not functioning well due to the absence of Gavin Hindle and Jack Morgan and indeed, from a lineout deep in the Skipton half, again courtesy of Booth, Salem stole, drove to the line, recycled well and spun the ball wide for a try in the corner. Booth duly converted to take the score to 17-0.

Skipton at last woke up and spent the next 10 mins in the ascendancy, with the evergreen Mike Beech making sniping runs from the base of the scrum and Nathan Tiffen and Mark Davison making the hard yards, the latter in true captain's mould leading from the front and having his best game of the season.

Skipton started to find some rhythm. Beech broke blind, the ball eventually found Matthew Cox, who drove to within five metres of the Salem line.

But sloppy handling saw Skipton lose the initiative and an intercepted wayward pass saw Salem make 50 metres and from then next scrum the ball went wide to increase the lead to 24-0.

From a well-judged kick from Geordie Porter, Skipton again camped in Salem's 22 and from a quick tap penalty, which brought a further 10 metres for not retreating, the ball was driven in well by the reliable Adam Winthrop, quickly recycled and fed to Davison, who spun out of the first tackle to score near the posts, Kieran Coe adding the conversion to take the score at half time to 24-7.

The second-half started in similar vein to the first, with Booth finding a long touch and from the resultant line out, Salem came up with the ball and simply drove to the line to score an unconverted try.

Skipton then enjoyed a period of good pressure.

Tiffen drove at the heart of the defence, with Davison never far behind, and from one such drive the ball came out to new signing, strong-running centre Phil Lane, who drew the opposition and found Steve Cullen who was bundled into touch five metres from the line.

Skipton continued to press and from a penalty, which resulted in a yellow card for the Salem scrum-half for persistent infringement, the ball was spun wide to Lane, who drew the opposition and offloaded to Cullen, who outpaced the cover to score in the corner to take the score to 29-12.

The last 10 minutes belonged to Salem, who scored a simple pushover try courtesy of their No 8, ex-Wharfedale man Mark Viner which Booth converted and then from a lineout another strong drive led to an unconverted try.

This Skipton side, although not at full strength, has shown again that it has the ability to compete at this level and with better lineout control, the game would have been a much closer affair.

Positives to be taken from the game were fine individual performances by Tiffen and Davison up front, Beech at scrum half and Coe, was always secure in the tackle and under the high ball.

New centre Lane has an eye for the right option and his powerful running will be an obvious asset, while Cox ran and tackled with urgency.