Baildon beat Halifax Vandals at death in Yorkshire Two clash

However, that is far from the whole story of a game with many twists and turns.

Visitors Halifax, who dominated the first half via possession and territory and had the stronger scrum throughout, felt that they got the rough end of North Yorkshire Society referee Andy Williamson’s whistle.

But neither did they help themselves via three yellow cards and by comments made to the referee both on and off the pitch.

Vandals, who played up the slope first, led 14-5 at one stage via tries by right winger Scott Sutcliffe and No.8 Joe Bryson, fly half Joe Horne converting both.

Disappointingly for them, they only reached half-time with a 14-12 advantage after Baildon No.8 Jack Ryan helped himself to a converted try to add to an earlier score from Duxbury.

Then, in a nip-and-tuck second half, Vandals had flanker Luke Illingworth and Horne yellow carded in quick succession to reduce them to 13 men and, later in the half, replacement Logan Ward was also sin-binned.

Duxbury’s 57th-minute penalty put the hosts ahead 15-14, but it looked as if Sutcliffe’s penalty 13 minutes later would win it for fourth-placed Vandals until Duxbury’s late kick.

Crucially, that was moved 10 metres closer to the sticks for dissent, and it sailed through the posts to win it for the Jenny Laners in a very tense finale.

Baildon were able to celebrate, eventually, having spent most of the match behind on the scoreboard. (Image: Mick Massey.)

Duxbury said: “Sometimes you have to dig deep to get a win for the badge, which is something that we pride ourselves on, although the performance level was not too high.

“You have always have a challenge the week after a more local derby (they beat Bradford & Bingley 34-16 at Wagon Lane) to keep the intensity up.

“Vandals were big lads, played ferociously and played really good rugby and we got away with a couple of late penalty opportunities and we managed to get one to win it.

“It was a different wind to normal and was blowing uphill, but I just read the wind wrong to miss two penalties (Vandals also sent two attempts off target) and there was no excuse for those.”

As for Vandals’ first-half dominance up the slope, Duxbury admitted: “I was massively worried about us having too much juice taken out of us, and they were exceptional keeping the ball.

“We just had to keep making the tackles - we all know how much you need to keep possession up the hill and then kick downhill to tire them out in the other half.

“We found it difficult to get an exit and going nine points down was not ideal, but we managed to get 12 points in the first half and still had something to give in the second half.”

Duxbury added: “There are a lot of our players stepping up to first-team rugby this year.

“They are putting their hands up in the physical battles, and this time last year we were losing those.

“When Vandals got a rumble on, we held them out when we needed to in the ‘red zone’, although if we defend our other lines like we defend our try line it would be useful.

“However, we absorbed more contact than we would have liked to, so it is back to the drawing board on that one.

“”e also got suckered into their game plan a little bit for periods rather than being more ambitious, changing the point of contact and playing our brand of rugby, which we will try to do, even in the winter.

“We got success playing our way and the players need to believe in themselves more, like they did in that last 20 minutes against Bradford & Bingley when we were sensational.”

As for Vandals not being happy with Mr Williamson, Duxbury said: “The referee’s vocals were very good throughout, he explained what he had given, he gave his decisions with a smile on his face, he was consistent throughout and facilitated a game of rugby.

“We didn’t react quickly enough to him in the first half (when their man of the match Matty Dixon was sin-binned) and they were probably the same in the second half.”

Matty Dixon (tattooed left arm) was Baildon's man of the match. (Image: Mick Massey.)

Baildon have now won three of their opening five league matches in what Duxbury called a “workmanlike start with a simpler brand of rugby that brings success”.

He added: “We just want to improve week on week, ensure that the lads enjoy it and have a few beers afterwards in the clubhouse and create stories for future years.

“Promotion is very much in the background (Baildon fell way in the second half of last season) and it is not something that we are looking at.

“It is more week on week and what players we get out each week - for example two 17-year-olds have made their debuts for the second team this week, and there are a couple more to come.

“We want to create sustainability within the club for years to come. We are sitting a league higher than in most years recently and we want to cement ourselves as a staple of Yorkshire Two.

“If we do make another step up at some stage then that is great, but as long as we are getting two teams out every week who are enjoying their rugby and playing with their mates then that is all that I can ask for.”

Bradford & Bingley squeezed above Baildon into sixth with a gripping bonus-point victory at Huddersfield Laund Hill.

The Bradford side were nine points behind with 15 minutes to go, but they fought back to win 25-21.

In Counties One Yorkshire, Keighley moved up to second with a 29-14 win at Wensleydale, while Cleckheaton had a free weekend in Regional One North East.