SSE Yorkshire Division Three

Baildon 10

Aireborough 3

JONNY Mackey was in reflective mood after a derby that became more interesting the longer it was played.

The Aireborough flanker thought he might have scored a try with the last play of the match that would have given the struggling visitors the chance of a draw with the conversion from the right-hand touchline.

The five-pointer was ruled out for a double movement by referee Jonathan Keeton but Mackey, with a wry smile, confessed: "It was a 50-50 call but maybe if I hadn't have run into him in the first half he would have given it!

"We deserved a draw and played really well in the first 20 minutes and the last 20 minutes.

"We have a new coach in Matt Trevithick and it takes a while to adjust to that but we have also had some second-teamers who have stepped up and played well, such as full back David Krushell, and we have enough about us to avoid relegation."

On a day when defences dominated, Baildon looked set for a four-try bonus point when they led 10-3 at half-time and had the Jenny Lane slope in their favour in the second half against a side that were conceding almost 35 points a game on average.

However, Aireborough showed the same kind of tenacious tackling up the hill that Baildon had shown in the first half and were proud afterwards that the only try they had conceded came from a penalty try for a high tackle on left winger Richard Kingham by Krushell.

Baildon endured a torrid season in 2013-14, winning only one game and drawing one out of 26 and having 982 points put past them in being relegated from Yorkshire Division Two.

However, far from breaking them, skipper Alistair Beaumont reckons this was the making of them in one respect.

He said: "It affected our confidence but it has made us a squad in terms of team spirit.

"We knew it was going to be a big step up, especially when players left us and we had to promote some second-teamers.

"But we have kept the core of that team, the average age of the squad is only 23, we are rebuilding our confidence and are looking to finish in the top five."

On a grey afternoon that became brighter before it again darkened, Baildon took the lead with a penalty by fly half Ollie Waddington in the eighth minute.

The visitors, who temporarily lost starting props Jonny Hanson (bloody nose) and Charlie Middleton (calf and hamstring), blew the chance of a try when Mackey dropped the ball in the 18th minute with the line beckoning.

Then, cranking up the pressure, they equalised via fly half Nick Holdsworth's 33rd-minute penalty before the penalty try that was converted by Waddington.

However, there was no points spree in the second half as centre Mark Druce and No 8 Nick Barber carried the ball strongly for the visitors.

Baildon's best chance of a second-half try came when replacement Matt Withers broke through in the 53rd minute, only for fellow centre Jonny Hargreaves to spill his pass.

However, Withers was sent off for a no-arms tackle on Aireborough centre Philip Sharp 23 minutes later as an increasingly intense derby drew to a close with second-from-bottom Aireborough having to be content with a losing bonus point as Baildon rose one place to ninth after their third win in four matches, the other being a draw.