A crowd of over 500 supporters were treated to a hard-fought yet highly entertaining local derby at Shay Lane and although only a single point separated the 2 sides early in the second half, Bradford and Bingley showed just why they are champions as they ran away with the game in the final 30 minutes.

Salem were up against a much bigger pack and their failure to secure any quality possession at the set-pieces proved to be the difference.

Bradford and Bingley took a 7-0 lead after just 5 minutes as some slick handling lead to centre and man of the match Lachlan Moore breaking through to send supporting full back Adam Mitchell over on the left.

When the visitors doubled their tally shortly afterwards, things looked ominous for Salem but they hit back with 2 penalties from full back Danny Brlcher to reduce the arrears to 14-6.

A further Bees try stretched their lead to 19-6 but again Salem responded positively and some excellent handling in the backs put Belcher into space and his well-timed pass sent winger Ryan Smith over in the corner, Belcher's magnificent touchline conversion getting the hosts to within a score at 19-13.

Bees scored a fourth try to extend their lead but a third Belcher penalty got Salem back to 24-16 at the break.

Within minutes of the restart, Salem gave the table-toppers a real scare as more good handling put Belcher over for a superb try he improved himself to get the home side back to within a point at 24-23.

The turning point came when referee Rory Fisher sent Belcher to the sin-bin for a late challenge as Bradford and Bingley scored their fifth try and whilst Salem were reduced to 14 men the visitors scored two quick tries to give them an unassailable 45-23 lead.

To their credit, Salem still refused to throw in the towel and centre Conor Wood, who ran strongly throughout, crossed in the left corner to bring the score to 45-28. However, the introduction of James Pinder from the bench seemed to give the Bees new impetus and they ran in 2 further tries to seal an emphatic 57-28 victory.