Middlesbrough 13 bradford & Bingley 6: Homan try decisive for Boro as Bees left to salvage bonus point from dour battle

The game may have been all the better if the forwards had dispensed with the ball for a few minutes and just got on with a midfield dust-up to end the stream of petty niggles which continued throughout.

If the air had been cleared, perhaps the crowd may have been entertained by some rugby.

There is little in this game that the Bees will look back on with any sense of a job well done.

It was an abject performance in a thoroughly forgettable game.

The only incident which may be remembered will surround the debate as to whether the home side briefly had 16 men on the field.

The Bees may say that their previously porous defence held firm save for a single slip which allowed in wingman Peter Homan on 50 minutes, but there was a complete lack of cohesion when it came to taking the game to Middlesborough.

Although the home side held only a slender margin there was no real confidence in the visiting camp that the Bees would eventually haul themselves back.

Kicks never found their target, passes went astray and although the Bees probably thought that an edge in fitness would eventually carry them to victory, the upper hand was never established.

It is clear that the Bees are missing the calming influence of an experienced couple of players in midfield. They quickly need to get a firm hand on the tiller or the season will soon start to drift into mid-table anonymity or worse.

All they had to show at Acklam Park was a losing bonus point.

The first-half points came from penalty goals. Centre Gavin Stead put the visitors ahead in the third minute.

It was a further 23 minutes before stand-off Simon O'Farrell equalised for Middlesbrough, and it was in first-half stoppage time that he put them ahead.

The Bees contained Middlesbrough well despite the home side turning round with the wind in their favour, but a crossfield kick by O'Farrell resulted in Homan gathering the bouncing ball to slither over for a try in the corner.

O'Farrell did well to convert from the touchline, and the game was six minutes into stoppage time when Middlesbrough went offside and Stead kicked his second penalty to earn the visitors' bonus point for losing by seven points or less.

FOR the second week running, a fine second-half fightback left Beverley just short of claiming victory, and they had to settle for a losing bonus point at Darlington Mowden Park as the hosts edged to a 26-21 victory.

They had all the early play and went ahead with a pushover try touched down by No 8 James McKay which was converted by fly-half Phil Dale.

Darlington drew level with a converted try from centre Robin Eatough and then took the lead with another from hooker Andrew Tonkin, with fly-half Gavin Painter kicking both conversions.

Despite having the strong wind behind them in the second half, Beverley went further behind directly from the restart when a weak clearance kick went straight into the hands of home winger Matt Goforth, who raced down the touchline from his own half to put Painter in at the corner.

A second try for Eatough converted by Painter took Darlington to 26-7 and virtually out of sight.

But the last quarter belonged to Beverley who came back strongly with a try from wing-forward Tony Riby-French and then a super solo try by flanker David Worrall, who powered his way to the line direct from a scrum 30 metres out.

Dale added both conversions to leave Beverley then needing one more converted try for victory.

They came close to getting it but Darlington closed the game out in the dying minutes to hang on for victory.