Salem on the brink of title after strong second half

BRADFORD Salem moved a step closer to winning the SSE Yorkshire Two championship after an improved second-half performance earned them maximum points at Barnsley.

The hosts, who were promotion contenders themselves halfway through the season, were always likely to be tricky opponents at home and dominated the early stages, and the visitors' cause was not helped when former England international Dan Scarbrough had to leave the field after only two minutes with a recurrence of an abductor injury.

Salem were dealt a further blow when scrum half Jack Mitchell was forced off with shoulder injury, winger Sam Savage taking over at half-back, with replacements Andy Collins and Carl Walker filling the wing berths.

Despite their hastily re-shuffled back line, the visitors defended tenaciously but, after missing two kickable penalties, the pressure eventually told as some excellent handling from Barnsley created a try in the corner, with the equally excellent touchline conversion giving the hosts a 7-0 lead.

Salem were once again on the wrong end of the penalty count, and this, coupled with their inability to retain possession, led to a number of missed scoring opportunities.

However, in the second half, and with the wind now at their backs, the visitors began to take control. Within two minutes of the restart, the visitors drew level as Ryan Smith, who had moved from wing to centre, finished off some slick handling, full back Danny Belcher landing the touchline conversion.

Salem then took the lead for the first time as Walker squeezed over in the left corner, Belcher again nailing the touchline conversion to put his side 14-7 in front.

The Heaton high-fliers were now in the ascendancy but were perhaps guilty of over-confidence as they elected to run the ball, rather than take a certain three points.

Unfortunately, this decision back-fired as West Yorkshire Society referee Jon Tomlinson penalised them for not releasing in the tackle, and Barnsley managed to clear their lines.

The home side were visibly lifted by this reprieve, and they reduced the arrears to 14-10 with a well-struck penalty.

However, this seemed to spur Salem into action and, following a penalty, Kiwi prop Ryan McKessar barged his way over for try, improved by Belcher to make it 24-10.

Second-rower Dean McNicholl was then in support of a strong break by centre Conor Wood but the 49-year-old was hauled down agonisingly short of the try line.

However, Salem were not going to be denied a bonus-point try, and a weaving run from Smith gave the classy former Wibsey Warriors star his second try, Belcher adding the extras to give the visitors an unassailable 31-10 lead.

A poor kick-off reception by Salem allowed the hosts to score a late consolation try but the Bradford side now need just a single point from their remaining three games to take the silverware.