Northallerton 18, Baildon 26

Baildon shook off their habit of starting slowly with a lively first-half performance in this SSE Yorkshire Division Three contest.

It produced 18 points for the visitors against a solitary penalty for the hosts, which set the platform for a solid win against a team who often prove difficult to beat at home.

Veteran winger Nick Oddy rolled back the years to produce a 40-yard burst which left several defenders in his wake before crashing over under the posts, leaving a simple task for fly half Nick Lister to tag on the extras and add to his earlier penalty successes on five and 20 minutes.

Eight minutes later, prop Phil Wilson barged his way over from close range to give the Jenny Laners a 15-point cushion, and at that point Baildon were firmly in the driving seat.

After conceding a try early on in the first half, Baildon hit back with Lister’s third penalty but after the sin-binning of second row Matt Atkinson on 62 minutes, Baildon threatened to press the self-destruct button.

They allowed Northallerton back into the game by conceding tries on 69 and 77 minutes to leave them with a slender three-point lead going into the final minutes.

However, outstanding hooker Tom Craven settled the nerves with a well-taken try on 79 minutes to deny Northallerton the losing bonus point and move his side into the top half of the table.