Bradford Salem 8, Scarborough 13

Bradford Salem’s disappointing start to 2010 continued with a surprise defeat against mid-table Yorkshire Division One Scarborough at Shay Lane yesterday.

Having beaten Scarborough 35-22 at their new and impressive Silver Royd headquarters earlier in the season, Salem fully expected to extend their unbeaten home record to eight games.

However, the heavy conditions suited Scarborough’s big pack and the visitors were very much on top in the early exchanges.

After 15 minutes, the seaside club went ahead 3-0 courtesy of a Matty Jones penalty when Salem were caught offside but both sides were finding it difficult to retain possession on a testing surface.

After a period of intense pressure, Scarborough full back Jeffrey ghosted through the home defence for a fine individual try, and Jones added the extras to put the visitors 10-0 up at half-time.

Salem raised their game in the second half and they were camped in their opponent's 22 for long periods.

A try seemed inevitable, especially from a catch and drive, but desperate Scarborough defence denied them on several occasions.

Referee Jonathan Hill was on the verge of awarding a penalty try after Scarborough were guilty of persistent infringements on their own try-line but Salem eventually had to settle for a penalty from fly half Jonathan Davies, which brought the scoreline to 10-3.

The Heaton side continued to dominate and they were finally rewarded when No 8 Jonny Luxton drove over from a rolling maul, and the gap closed to 10-8.

In virtually their first visit into their opponents' half, Scarborough came away with three points after Salem’s backs were judged to be offside.

In the dying minutes, Salem had a number of chances to score but they came up with errors at vital moments.

With the seconds ticking away, Salem looked like they were going to score a pushover try, which would have at least earned them a draw.

Unfortunately, however, Luxton was unable to control the ball at the base of the scrum and the chance went begging.

Another mistake from Salem gifted their opponents possession and a relieved Scarborough side put the ball out of play to seal a 13-8 victory.