IN a battle of two in-form teams, hosts Bradford Salem were edged out 10-3 by Heath in a Yorkshire Division One contest that went right to the wire.

The visitors had the first opportunity to go ahead at Shay Lane after 15 minutes when Salem were caught offside but the penalty attempt from 40 metres fell short.

The next chance went to Salem but Danny Belcher’s penalty rebounded off the left upright and Heath managed to clear the ball.

The hosts were growing in confidence, and, following strong runs from prop forwards Callum King and Will Collins, centre Harry Hall broke through but a huge opportunity went begging as Belcher spilled the potential try-scoring pass.

With 30 minutes played, the deadlock was finally broken when Heath landed a successful penalty to go 3-0 ahead.

Minutes later, Salem were back on the offensive, and, after blind-side flanker Mike MacDonald won a turnover, his fellow back-rower Rhys Green broke clear.

He dummied his way past two defenders, but chose to ignore supporting full back Ryan Smith and another clear-cut scoring opportunity was squandered as he was hauled down short of the line.

The visitors pushed a third penalty attempt wide of the target but having been let off the hook on numerous occasions, they were still perhaps fortunate to be 3-0 up at the break.

Within minutes of the restart, Heath earned a lineout five metres from their opponent’s line. After a sustained period of pressure, they moved the ball wide and only a last ditch tackle prevented the winger from crossing in the corner.

However, the reprieve proved to be short-lived as the visitors powered over from close range for a converted try to make it 10-0.

Salem were awarded a penalty in the opposition 22, and looked certain to score following a quick tap from their man-of-the match Jamie Simpson. However, the crucial pass went to ground and the home side’s endeavours went unrewarded.

With 55 minutes gone, Heath had a man sent to the sin-bin and Belcher kicked the resultant penalty to reduce the deficit to 10-3.

Despite having a one man advantage, Salem lost momentum when No8 Christian Baines surprisingly dropped the kick-off reception.

Salem then went close to scoring after impressively winning a scrum against the head but a knock on at a line-out enabled Heath to relieve the pressure.

The hosts were reduced to 14 men as Green was shown a yellow card for dissent and, with time ticking away and Heath in good field position, they were in danger of coming away from the game empty-handed.

However, Salem's Kristan Dobson intercepted a pass and it looked as if he might go the length of the field to score, but he was chased down by his speedy opposite number.

Salem still managed to recycle the ball and this time Kyle Moore seemed to have a clear run to the line, only to be caught by the cover defence. Belcher then knocked on in the final play as Heath clung on for a 10-3 victory.