Middlesborough 24 Stcockport 14 - Dominant defence helps Boro sink leaders as injury-hit Bees win derby encounter

Middlesbrough 24 Stockport 14

Fly-half Simon O'Farrell kicked Middlesbrough into an early lead with a penalty after seven minutes and it proved to be a lead they would not lose.

Centre Peter Homan touched down on 21 minutes after breaking through the Stockport defence and racing down the middle, O'Farrell adding the extras.

Stockport pulled back a try on 39 minutes with stand-off Tony Edwards touching down and adding the conversion, but the home side still led at the break.

Wing forward Rory Duff scored Middlesbrough's second try

on 48 minutes and O'Farrell added the conversion, and the hosts' outstanding defence continued to hold the leaders at bay.

Middlesbrough extended their lead five minutes from time when, after good work by the forwards, second-row Neil Young raced through and O'Farrell converted for a 24-7 lead. Stockport hooker Tom Cruse added a late try and Edwards converted, but it was not enough and Stockport left Acklam Park empty-handed.

Bradford & Bingley 26 Beverley 13

The Bees notched a third successive win to climb to fourth in the table against a competitive Beverley side who are a much better team than their lowly league position suggests.

Martin Whitcomb's men had to reshuffle after losing both half-backs during the latter part of the week, but stand-in scrum-half Ben Greaves and Steve Brimacombe outside him hardly put a foot wrong for the home side as the Bees always looked to have a slight edge over their visitors.

The Bees' woes were further compounded when player-coach Stuart Dixon was lost to a hamstring pull in the first half, but his replacement, James Holland, had an immense game, giving few clues that he was a back-row man playing out of position.

The visitors opened the scoring with a penalty on seven minutes, but within two minutes wing man Gavin Stead replied by crossing on the way to registering his 16 points for the day.

Stead converted his own try to establish a 7-3 lead, but the Bees were unable to kick on as they had done the previous week against Chester and the Beverley midfield always looked threatening.

Centre Samiuela Atiola had gone close on a couple of occasions before he was able to slice through the Bees defence for a thoroughly-deserved score. With the conversion and a penalty tacked on, Beverley led by six with eight minutes left in the half.

After successfully holding the line, the Bees youngsters in the backline started to show that they also could play a bit, with 17-year-old Chris Gemmell making his debut, but looking assured way beyond his years as the Bees poured forward.

With two minutes left on the clock, Gemmell led the charge up the touchline and the ball zipped through several pairs of hands before 18-year-old full-back Arnie Ellison crossed to pull the home side to within one.

The Bees backs kept up the pace in the opening exchanges of the second period and it was the division's leading points scorer, Stead, who eventually crossed as they blasted 70 metres from deep in their own territory to score in front of the clubhouse.

Stead's continuing excellence with the boot tacked on the extras and it was the Bees who were clearly gaining an upper hand.

That dominance was confirmed on 52 minutes as the pack heaved the Beverley eight over their own line but before Guy Ford could dot the ball down, the referee was between the posts awarding a penalty try.

This score seemed to knock the wind out of Beverley and the game became increasingly ragged as the clocked ticked down.

It was a far from memorable last 20 minutes but a resurgent Bees had done enough in the first hour to show that they are back as a force to be reckoned with in the scramble for promotion.