Bradford Salem 5 Yarnbury 20

YARNBURY took a big step towards Yorkshire One survival with a well-deserved win at Shay Lane on Saturday.

The Horsforth side were in confident mood after scoring four tries and earning two bonus points against second-placed Malton & Norton.

Salem started brightly and tried to batter their way through the Yarnbury defence with strong-running centre Danny Belcher and forwards Chad Bain and and Jamie Booth prominent.

The Yarnbury back row of Jimmy Cryan, Tom Holden and Russ Gomersall stood up to the challenge and the balance of the game soon changed.

Stand off Kieran Davies, who had lost a tooth in a tackle, got off the floor and danced round three defenders to to score the first try in the corner.

Full back Danny Pound continued his impressive recent form with the boot by kicking the conversion from the touchline.

He then increased the lead with a penalty as Salem were too enthusiastic on the floor in search of possession.

A 13-0 half-time lead was good reward for Yarnbury after matching the physicality of the home pack.

The lead was increased early in the second half when Pound kicked his second penalty.

Salem started to throw the ball about in a bid to haul themselves back into the game. It was a tactic that backfired when Pound showed great anticipation to intercept a pass before racing clear from his own half to score a try which he also converted.

Salem became increasingly frustrated as the Yarnbury defence thwarted their efforts to get back in the game.

It proved to be a lone consolation for the home side as Yarnbury gave themselves a lift before this Saturday's home game with fellow strugglers Selby.