Wibsey Warriors 34, Clayton 12 Full back Mike Derrick was the hero with a brace of tries, together with a superb defensive stint, as Wibsey moved to within a point of Division One West leaders Clayton after a rousing Pennine League encounter between the local rivals.

The Warriors moved quickly into gear when prop forward CJ Vogel sidestepped his way to the posts, leaving stand-off Andy Robinson a simple conversion.

But Clayton hit back and sustained pressure forced Wibsey wingman Nick Fontaine to boot the ball dead to bring relief.

The teams exchanged a flurry of fisticuffs following a heavy tackle and visiting prop John Parkinson was held up over the line from the subsequent tap-and-run.

But the hosts conjured up a try from nothing when Robinson collected an innocuous kick to race into a gap, where a smart exchange of passes saw Derrick join the line to glide over.

Another display of fast hands saw wingman Scott Smith over in the corner, before Clayton were at last rewarded for their efforts when Parkinson proved unstoppable from ten metres out and stand-off Dane Bairstow made sure of the extra two points.

With half-time approaching, the visitors had a golden chance of reducing the arrears further when centre Simon Giles wrenched the ball free in a one-on-one tackle.

He galloped a full 80 metres up-field, only to fail at the final hurdle when Derrick’s ankle tap brought him crashing to earth with the line at his mercy.

At 14-6 it was anybody’s game but Clayton blew their chances just minutes into the second stanza.

Centre Tom Wilcox was sent to the sin bin for preventing play and when Warriors substitute Brad Tattersall burrowed his way to the posts, Bairstow joined him after overstepping the mark with his protest that the ball had been grounded short.

Robinson added the extras, before they were also reduced in numbers when prop Mark Kendall was caught punching in the tackle.

The loss had little impact however, with Fontaine soon racing in out wide. That was quickly followed by a second try from Derrick, who sliced through a tiring defence with ease.

Clayton showed their grit when centre James Waddington pounced on a grubber behind the line.

But loose forward Harry Hall brought down the curtain with a scything run on the angle to give the Warriors a deserved victory.