Bees climb above rivals with dominant effort as Morley claim much-needed four-try victory

However, on this showing it is a mystery how Sandal beat previously undefeated Chester last week as they were beaten at a canter by Martin Whitcombe’s men.

Aside from the excellent Mark Pease in the centre, stand-off Tom Hodson and openside flanker Tom Hirst, Sandal offered little as an attacking threat but defended well for long periods to keep out the Bees who had an upper hand in all departments.

Sandal made little impression when the home side were reduced to 13 men for 10 minutes in the first half as Gavin Stead and then Roger Raper were sent to the cooler for 10 minutes and the home side were able to turn round 12-3 in front despite being two men down.

In truth the Sandal pack were never able to establish any kind of platform even when they had eight men playing the Bees seven.

The first half was largely a forgettable forty minutes as neither side really got going and the four penalties slotted by the Bees’ Stead into the breeze against a single success from Hodson was a fair reflection.

The second half was certainly played at a better tempo and the home side started to pick a few holes in the Sandal defence.

Stead charged down the right for his eighth try of the season, but the conversion came back off the post to spoil his otherwise immaculate day with the boot.

The Bees forwards were now clearly on top and despite the huge presence of the three Norburys in the visiting pack the Sandal eight were on roller skates as the Bees were awarded a penalty try as the visiting pack were shunted down the Aire Valley with around 12 minutes left. The Bees continued their squeeze up front and with around five minutes left on the clock Ryan Wederall marked his return to the side with a flamboyant dive over the whitewash.

With Stead tacking on both conversions the Bees went looking for a fourth score and the bonus point but were unable to underline their superiority with another visit to the Sandal line.

The Bees have won four from their last five and stand sixth in the table, Sandal having dropped below them.

Darlington MP 49 Beverley 3

Against a side with seven wins out of eight, this was always going to be a tough game for a makeshift Beverley team still hampered by long-term injuries.

They went down to a heavy defeat, but fought a courageous first half during which they conceded only 16 points which all came through mistakes of their own making.

A penalty by home fly-half Grant Connon put Mowden ahead after four minutes and centre Chris Peace added a try when a Beverley clearance kick was charged down.

The visiting fly-half Phil Duboulay got Beverley into the game with a penalty, but in a 10-minute period before half-time Mowden extended their lead with a try by flanker Junior Fagalilo and a second Connon penalty.

In the second half Beverley were under increasing pressure from the speedy home backs and in the forward play they found possession hard to come by.

Although Beverley fought bravely they were unable to stem the flow of scoring by a powerful Mowden side that now heads the division. In a one-sided half Beverley succumbed to further tries by forwardsDanny Dixon, James Knox, Andrew Tonkin, another from Peace and scrum-half Max Connon, with Grant Connon adding four conversions.

Morley 28 Penrith 14

MORLEY gained a much needed win and a bonus point as they ran in four tries.

Simon Bradshaw gathered a cross-field kick to dive over on the left and add the points with just four minutes on the clock as Morley declared their intent.

Centre and captain Chris Hall then chipped forward and the kind bounce enabled him to pick up the ball and score in the 20th minute, Bradshaw converting.

There was no further scoring before half-time, but Penrith then hit back to level the scores, wingers and brothers Phil and Jonathan Fell having tries converted by fly-half Steve Wood.

Penrith were looking lively at that stage but with 10 minutes left, winger Charles Hough got Morley back on course with a try converted by Bradshaw.

In injury-time, Ben Johnson hacked on to score and gain the bonus, Bradshaw converting.