Bradford Salem moved up into fourth spot in Counties 1 Yorkshire with a 31-16 bonus point win over Old Rishworthian.

Although the visitors from Calderdale held a slender 13-12 lead at the break, Salem hit back to score 3 second half tries to secure 5 valuable league points.

On a Shay Lane pitch that stood up remarkably well despite the heavy overnight rain, Salem immediately found themselves defending their own try line after an uncharacteristic knock-on by lock Dom Bailey straight from the kick-off.  Salem then conceded a penalty which full-back Rangi Kui converted to give Rish a 3-0 lead after just 2 minutes.

A superb 50/22 kick got the visitors back on the attack from the restart but Salem managed to steal the ball at the ensuing line out to relieve the pressure.

With 6 minutes gone, it was Salem's turn to mount an attack after referee David Rhodes penalised Rish for a high tackle on centre Logan Simpson.

Skipper Christian Baines then opted for a scrum rather than go for an almost certain 3 points and his decision was vindicated as some slick handling from Andy Robinson sent Danny Belcher over for a try to put the hosts 5-3 in front.

However, Rish regained the lead 5 minutes later courtesy of a second Kui penalty after flanker Morgan Mirzaali, who otherwise had an outstanding game, was caught off-side.

It wasn't long before the lead changed hands for a 3rd time when some brilliant inter-passing created a try for hooker James Brown, winger Jake Green adding the extras to put the home side 12-6 ahead.

Two minutes later, the see-saw nature of the battle continued as Rish reclaimed the lead when some rare weak defending by Salem allowed Doug Heseltine to score under the sticks, Kui landing the simple conversion to give his side a narrow 13-12 advantage.

Salem then suffered a blow when highly-rated second rower Fin Southcott, who put in an immense defensive display, was sin-binned for a trip.

Despite having to start the second half with 14 men, it was Rish this time who made a hash of the kick off reception, and, following a good take by Bailey at the resultant line-out, scrum half Kyle Carter squeezed over in the corner from a blindside move to put the hosts back in front at 17-13.

Salem would have gone further ahead immediately from the restart had Simpson managed to regather the ball from a kick chase, but this let-off for Rish proved to be short-lived as, moments later, Brown scored his second try from a catch and drive, Green's successful conversion giving the Bradford side a 24-13 lead.

Although Kui reduced the deficit to 24-16 with his third successful penalty, Salem finished the game in style when man of the match Mirzaali scored a try which Green improved to seal an impressive 31-16 win.