Knottingley 13 Bradford Salem 27

CHAMPIONS Bradford Salem registered their 24th victory to finish the season unbeaten in SSE Yorkshire Division Two.

However, the Heaton side had to work hard against a committed Knottingley outfit, who were always in the hunt despite the fact that the visitors outscored them by four tries to one.

Salem took a 5-0 lead after ten minutes when centre Dan Scarbrough finished off some slick handling in the backs.

Seven minutes later, Scarbrough showed great anticipation to intercept a pass, and the 37-year-old former England international turned back the clock as he outpaced the the cover defence in a 70-metre run to the line, full back Danny Belcher adding the extras to put the visitors 12-0 ahead.

Knottingley hit back with a penalty but Salem looked like they had seized control of the game when No 8 Jamie Booth picked up from the base of a five-metre scrum and forced his way over the line to give his side a 17-3 advantage.

The hosts, however, had other ideas, and when Salem made a hash of the restart, the home side took advantage of a lapse in concentration from their opponents and a converted try brought them back to within a score at the break at 17-10.

Although Salem had the breeze at their backs in the second half, they were dealt a blow after just five minutes when fly half and skipper Andy Robinson was sent to the sin bin for tripping.

Knottingley took advantage with a penalty to bring the scoreline to 17-13 but, once they were back to a full complement, the visitors hit back when second-rower Rhys Green forced a turnover which allowed prop Conor Wood to race under the posts for an excellent try, improved by Belcher who later added a penalty.

Salem were again reduced to 14 men when centre Chris Clough received a yellow card, but preserved their lead.