Whitcombe's men remain in promotion race and leave Boro in relegation fight

Bradford & Bingley 29

Middlesbrough 0

The Bees reached the halfway point in their season with a comfortable bonus-point victory over a very limited Middlesborough side.

This was a solid, workmanlike performance from the Wagon Lane side where everyone in the side did exactly what was expected of them and victory always looked to be on the cards once the initial deadlock was broken.

The five league points earned mean that Martin Whitcombe's men stay very much in the promotion race, three points behind Chester, who hold second spot in the division.

By contrast, defeat keeps Middlesborough just above the relegation places and on this performance it will be a long and hard second half of the season for the Teesside club.

In fairness, Middlesborough supporters in the Wagon Lane crowd said this was their side's worst performance of the season and it seems hardly believable that the same side are the only team in the division to beat league leaders Stockport.

The victory for the Bees was achieved despite playing the final 37 minutes a man light after Martyn Mitchell was red-carded for punching an opponent.

Substitute prop Roger Raper was sent to the sin-bin for his part in the same incident, so the Bees were reduced to 13 almost immediately after half-time.

However, despite the numerical disadvantage the home side were able to increase their lead as James Endersby drove over the line after being put through a gap by Grant Litt. With Gavin Stead tacking on his third succesful conversion, the Bees were 21 points clear with 30 minutes to play.

Although the Bees remained largely in control, it is all credit to the visitors that they kept the home side at bay until almost the final whistle when captain Ryan Wederall burrowed over in the corner.

A number of unforced handling errors also contributed to the home side's inability to score more points, with Guy Ford failing to hold the ball on a number of occasions.

The first half had been all about Middlesborough defending and the Bees struggling to establish any real pattern in their play.

It was half-an-hour into the contest before the home side were able to get on the score board as Adam Wellington crossed wide on the left.

A fine touchline conversion from Stead improved the score. Stead should have increased the advantage as he tore through up the touchline, but an excellent last-ditch tackle stopped him just short.

The pressure told eventually as Brett Mitchell rumbled over under a pile of his team-mates right on half-time. Stead produced another towering effort from the opposite side of the field.

The sides turned round at 14-0 and almost as soon as the game was under way for the second half Mitchell and Raper were marching back to the dug out. However, with Middlesborough unable to formulate much in the way of an attacking threat, the Bees were good value for their win and look to avenge defeat earlier in the season when they visit Lymm

Beverley 17

Darlington MP 30

AFTER five weeks of inactivity, Beverley looked the rustier of these two sides and went down to a comprehensive defeat at the hands of a side riding high in the table.

Beverley started the brighter of the two teams but despite dominating the early possession could make nothing of it. In contrast, the visitors, with almost their first attack, took the lead with a try in the corner by winger Rob Eatough which was converted by full-back Gavin Painter.

Scrum-half Jamie Gill responded with a penalty for Beverley, but Mowden stretched further ahead with another converted try by wing-forward Will McCauley who pounced on a loose ball in the Beverley centre and sprinted clear from halfway. Two penalties by Painter took Mowden to a 20-3 interval lead.

Within five minutes of the restart, they had added another converted try from Eatough. A rout looked to be on the cards but Beverley reshuffled their line-up and started to get back into the game.

Twice their pack drove to the line for tries by prop Manu Kirkwood and No 8 James McKay with full-back Phil Dale adding both conversions. Despite a third penalty for Painter, Beverley were within a converted try of a bonus point and they went hard for it. But Mowden closed the game down in the dying minutes to deny Beverley the bonus point they probably deserved on the balance of play.

Sheffield Tigers 45

Hereford 9

Sheffield Tigers edged into the top half of National Three Midlands as they kept Hereford pinned firmly at the bottom.

Hereford scored three first-half penalties through stand-off Dean Powell when they had the wind on their backs, but Tigers still had the upper hand and turned round 19-9 in front.

The opening try came after 15 minutes when centre Jon Buchanan touched down for the first of his two.

Powell pulled back two penalties but Tigers took control when second-row Gregor Hayter crashed over for a try which scrum-half Johnny West converted.

Buchanan crossed for his second try after 35 minutes, West again converting, before Powell landed his third penalty on the stroke on half-time.

Tigers ran in four tries without reply after the turnround, prop Sam Lockwood touching down for the bonus point 10 minutes into the second half and West converting.

Captain Andy Barnes then scored twice in five minutes, the second converted by Joe Wright after West had been replaced at scrum-half by Alex Drage.

Drage sealed Tigers' win with a 75th-minute converted try.

Stockport 21

Sandal 7

SANDAL kicked off the new year with a difficult task at the North Three leaders. After the prolonged winter break both sides were rusty, although Sandal were more than holding their own at the mid-way stage.

Stockport soon struck consecutive penalties and the score remained the same until the half-hour mark. Sandal hit back with their only score of the game, flanker Alastair Burgess forcing his way over the line and fly-half Greg Wood adding the conversion to make it 7-6.

The hosts stroked a third penalty just before the interval to lead 9-7 and Sandal's momentum was quickly halted after the break as Stockport made the brighter start and ran in two quick tries.

The first was a converted pushover try from a scrum and the second, which arrived on the hour, caught the Sandal defence napping as, from a ruck, a quick pass inside opened them up to make the final score 21-7.