Bradford Salem lose for first time in year as Bees hammered

After being beaten at Hullensians on October 21, 2023 in Counties One Yorkshire, Salem embarked on a sensational winning streak to claim the title and promotion.

They came into Saturday’s game with maximum points this season, but so did Old Brods, so something had to give.

And it was Old Brods who made the most of their home advantage, recording a well-earned 22-14 victory in a fine game of rugby.

The fact that Brods won the toss also had a bearing on the result as heavy rainfall in the first half prevented Salem from taking full advantage of the infamous Woodhead slope.

Conversely, the hosts enjoyed better weather in the second half and the two quick tries they scored just after the break proved crucial.

Kicking off in front of a sizeable crowd, Salem had the better of the early exchanges but against the run of play, winger Dom Georgiou broke free down the right flank.

Salem speedster Aaron Magee appeared to be blatantly held back as he tried to give chase, but play was waved on and Georgiou rounded visiting full-back Adrea Vasuitoga on his way to scoring a brilliant individual try to give the hosts a 5-0 lead.

The visitors hit back when a superb 50-22 from fly-half Harry Williams got them back to within striking distance.

Though flanker Morgan Mirzaali was held up over the line, the ball was moved wide from the resulting goal-line drop-out, allowing Vasuitoga to cross in the corner.

Adrea Vasuitoga helped get Salem in front, but his afternoon was to end painfully. (Image: LDR Photography.)

Williams landed the touchline conversion to put Salem 7-5 in front.

The away side should have gone further ahead when Mirzaali broke clear, but he failed to see Magee on his outside and Brods' scrambling defence somehow managed to prevent what looked like a certain score.

With neither team really getting a foothold in view of the testing conditions, a big turning point came when Salem failed to clear their own line, enabling Brods to score from a blindside move for a 10-7 lead.

This clearly gave the hosts a lift and it took an excellent tackle from Nick Fontaine and a trademark big hit from Conor Wood to prevent the hosts adding to their tally before the break.

With the second half kicking off under blue skies, Brods were soon on the attack and they made good ground from consecutive driving mauls from throw ins.

Then, after a clever inside pass created a half break, the ball was moved wide to winger Ben Barron, who dived in at the corner to put the hosts 15-7 ahead.

Immediately from the restart, another catch and drive from a line-out gained Brods good field position and a well-judged grubber kick from fly-half Josh Kelly bounced kindly into the hands of full-back George Gillgrass who dived over for a try.

Kelly's first successful conversion immediately followed, giving the home side a healthy 22-7 lead.

Despite Vasuitoga being forced off with a recurrence of the hamstring twinge he suffered the previous week at Huddersfield, Salem did not let their heads drop and their man of the match Fontaine started to make some incisive breaks in midfield.

However, although they created a number of scoring chances, a determined defensive effort from Brods forced Salem into making some uncharacteristic handling errors.

With just under five minutes to go, a strong carry and off-load by hooker James Brown sent Magee sprinting down the left.

But he tried to beat the final defender rather than pass to Sui Matagi, who had a clear run to the line on his inside, and another huge scoring opportunity was missed as the winger was bundled into touch.

In spite of this set-back, Salem still managed to finish the game on a high as, in the final play, Fontaine set up a try for Brown on the blindside.

Williams landed another conversion from the touchline as the game ended 22-14.

With Salem's incredible 26 match unbeaten run now ended, the Heaton club will look to regroup ahead of next Saturday's trip to Malton and Norton, who have been desperately unlucky to only win one of their five league games so far.

Salem will be hopeful that several players will be returning to the side, meaning that experienced pair Tom Cummins and Christian Baines, who did a sterling job at Brods as locks, will be able to revert to their more accustomed roles in the back row.

Christian Baines was forced to play out of position, on what was a rare difficult afternoon for Bradford Salem. (Image: JT Sports Media.)

Over in Counties Two Yorkshire, Baildon slipped to a 24-17 defeat at Roundhegians, while Bradford & Bingley were thumped 43-0 at home by visiting Dinnington.

It was a better weekend for Keighley, who remain second in Counties One Yorkshire after beating West Leeds 45-11 at Rose Cottage.

Finally, in Regional One North East, Cleckheaton moved up to sixth with an entertaining 33-27 victory at struggling Alnwick.