Second successive relegation looms for Bees

BRADFORD & Bingley's hopes of avoiding relegation for the second successive season are hanging by the slenderest of threads.

After they only collected a bonus point at home to West Hartlepool, the Bees are dependent on others to survive in SSE North One East.

The only way they can avoid slipping into Yorkshire Division One, and those much-anticipated derbies against the likes of Bradford Salem, Yarnbury, West Park Leeds, Old Brodleians, Heath and North Ribblesdale, is to notch a bonus-point home win over fourth-placed Dinnington next Saturday.

That would give the Bees 54 points, which would only be enough as long as Driffield (52 points) fail to triumph at Horden, who have only won two matches all season and were relegated weeks ago, and Northern (53 points) do not pick up anything at seventh-placed Alnwick.

"That wasn't in the plan," reflected Bees player-coach Stuart Dixon on the home loss, "and for the first time in a few weeks it (avoiding relegation) is not in our hands.

"At half-time, we said we needed to be more composed but we made it difficult for ourselves overall by giving away two soft tries and didn't execute well enough.

"Now we have to beat Dinnington, who are on a bit of a roll, having beaten Wheatley Hills 41-12, and see what happens elsewhere."

In a first half that was notable for West Hartlepool kicking the ball dead and the Bees conceding penalties – referee Richard Smith talked to home skipper Brett Mitchell so many times that they must have been on first-name terms by the end of the match – the visitors had benefited from an interception try while fly half Zac Southern had landed a conversion and two penalties.

The gift came in the 33rd minute when Bees fly half Tom Bills and left winger Adam Wellington got into a midfield mix-up, presenting the ball and an open path to the line to West Hartlepool's No 8 Sam Miller.

The only first-half points for the Bees came via a try for flanker Dan Cookson, who peeled off the side of a line-out that was won by Harry Jeffrey after Bills had put the hosts on the attack with a well-judged kick.

Flanker Liam Bailey got his second try in the 53rd minute after the home side made the cardinal sin of missing a penalty kick to touch, Miller making the break and Southern adding the conversion.

However, three minutes later that tried and trusted centre partnership of Dixon and Richard Tafa weaved their magic for the Bees' second try, Dixon cutting inside in midfield to create the space for Tafa to score halfway between the posts and the left-hand touchline.

Scrum half Richard Scull converted well and added a penalty in the eighth minute of injury time that earned them a bonus point in another game where they became frustrated at the performance of the referee and also got on the wrong side of the penalty count.