On a lawn-green pitch and in bright sunshine, York came second best to a Bradford Salem side who seemed hungrier, more ambitious and more aggressive than the home team.

York started brightly, playing downhill and quickly gained field position. A good break by Peace in the centre resulted in a York scrum 5m from the line. Infringements by the visitors gave the first penalty to York. Quick thinking and a quick tap by the York scum half Johnson, saw him dive under the posts for the first score. Converted by Dawes, York were 7 – 0 up within the first 5 minutes.Bradford had still not really started firing and seemed to be having ‘heated’ discussions within their own team. York capitalised on this and had much of the possession in the opening quarter. Another good York scrum led to a midfield break and the resulting infringement at the breakdown gave York a penalty within striking distance. Dawes converted to extend the lead to 10 – 0.

The following 10 minutes gave little evidence of either team building any significant advantage but Bradford, now playing as a team, took their chances better than York and scored twice to even the scores. Centre Hall skipped through a leaky York defence to score against the run of play and Belcher converted both the try and a penalty 3 minutes later. It took until the 35th minute for the game to really increase in tempo and intensity. York had the opportunity to go into the half ahead but the penalty was just beyond Dawes range as the 45m effort struck the upright. The teams were equal at 10 all going into the break.

The second half started with the same speed and aggression as the first ended. York winger Guimaraes made a strong break from the kick-off, making good metres up-field but ultimately York were unable to convert the pressure and Bradford worked hard to regain the ball. The visitors took the lead early in the second half as Belcher converted a penalty from some distance.
While the York scrum remained a source of clean secure possession, the line-out was not as reliable, with Bradford stealing a number of balls from the York throw-in. Bradford were also piling the pressure on York at the breakdown and increasing the intensity in defence. York seemed unable to match this, as again Hall broke a number of tackles to score his second try. Belcher hitting the conversion, York were now 10 – 20 down.

The game ebbed and flowed as neither side really took control. A high tackle by York centre Peace, rightly resulted in a yellow card but the retaliating head-butt by the Bradford 8 Wood, gave possession back to York and earned himself a red card. The only real negative point in a game played in the right spirit. Bradford made better use of the additional space gifted by two less players as against the run of play, they again broke through a shaky York midfield, this time fly half Robinson touching down. Belcher again secure with the boot extended Bradford Salem’s lead to 10 – 27.

York managed a consolation try as the game came to a close, substitute Rutter crossing the line following an excellent pickup by the ever-reliable captain Fox who even managed a hitch-kick as he cantered up-field.

The home team will feel slightly disappointed by the result, as there was the opportunity for this game to be closer than the score suggests. In Bradford Salem’s defence, bar the opening 10 minutes, they played with good intensity and aggression and scored three tries when the opportunity arose. York must pick themselves up for next Saturday as they travel to Selby.