On a pitch which was extremely heavy in places, Salem dominated the opening exchanges and they were only denied an early score when winger Neil Wall put a foot in touch after brushing off 2 would-be tacklers on his way to the try-line.

In spite of this minor set-back, Salem continued to apply the pressure but some last gasp defending from Yarnbury kept their opponents at bay.

The deadlock was finally broken after 15 minutes when full back Danny Belcher hit the line at pace and his deft grubber kick allowed winger Ryan Smith to score in the corner to give Salem a 5-0 lead. However, immediately from the restart centre Harry Hall was penalised for not releasing and Yarnbury kicked a penalty from fully 45 metres to reduce the deficit to 5-3.

After 25 minutes, Salem extended their lead when swift handling in the backs created a one on one for Smith and the speedy winger rounded his opposite number to score a fine try improved by Belcher to put the visitors 10-3 ahead.

Yarnbury hit back as the introduction of experienced fly-half Carl Patterson from the bench seemed to give the hosts more shape. Then, against the run of play, Matt Child's attempted pass to Smith was intercepted by Patterson who ambled over in the corner to get the hosts back to 10-8.

Salem were then dealt a further blow when Number 8 Jamie Booth was sent to the sin-bin for retaliation. The home side then had an opportunity to take the lead for the first time but missed a simple penalty so Salem went into the break with a narrow 10-8 advantage.

Yarnbury took the lead after 5 minutes of play in the second half as Salem failed to deal with a Patterson grubber kick through and the hosts scored a converted try for a 15-10 lead.

Belcher kicked a penalty minutes later to get Salem back to 15-13 but slick handling from Yarnbury created an overlap on the right and Ellis Gomersall this time went round Smith to score in the corner to give the Horsforth side a 22-13 lead. To make matters worse for Salem, they were also reduced to 14 men for the second time as Belcher was yellow carded for a late hit.

With 25 minutes remaining, Chris Meehan who had replaced Salem skipper Andy Robinson at fly-half scored on his league debut after a smart show and go to get the visitors back to within striking distance at 22-18 but Yarnbury responded with a penalty to put themselves 25-18 ahead.

Although Salem had opportunities to score a 4th try which might have got them on level terms, Yarnbury retained possession far better than Salem in the closing stages as they ran out 25-18 winners.