It was a wet and miserable afternoon in Bradford as patched up Ponte fell to a surprising defeat to the previous bottom side in the league. There was no real complaints at the result as Salem played the conditions well with Ponte having to show great grit and determination to haul themselves back into contention from a hefty looking deficit, to register a losing bonus point.

Ponte put themselves under pressure from the start as only desperate defence stopped a Salem pick and drive onslaught. From survival Ponte calmly worked their way down the field and were denied a potential try by a deliberate knock on, from which the culprit got 10 minutes in the bin. It looked like a try would soon be forthcoming but after deciding to take the ball away from the scrum a penalty was given away at breakdown allowing Salem to clear their lines. From this the well drilled Salem pack worked their way up field and scored a converted try as the opponents proved impossible to stop from close range pick and drives.

Ponte could not get territorial position as good positions were squandered by the old failings of line outs lost and penalties conceded. Unfortunately, Salem were not so profligate and their excellent kicker knocked over a long range penalty for a high tackle. Ponte needed to score next and they did as a couple of dominant scrums allowed centre Harry Mcallister to make a midfield break which in turn let Richard Dedicoat put winger Lucas Betteridge in at the corner for an unconverted try to make the score 10-5 at half time.

The second half did not start well for Ponte as a penalty for collapsing the maul allowed Salem to put the ball into the corner. This was all the Salem pack needed, as a superb catch and drive from the line out proved impossible to defend and it was 17-5. Ponte were quick to respond and soon cut the deficit to 17-8 with a Liam Kay penalty. From the resulting kick off the ball didn’t go the distance and following Salem dissent Kay hit the crossbar with a thumping penalty.

From the next phases of play the game turned as scrum half Josh Walker had a few minutes to forget. Firstly he fumbled a chip over to allow Salem to hack the ball towards the Ponte line. It took excellent play from centre Dedicoat to retrieve the situation but then Walkers clearance kick from the base of the ruck was charged down for a converted try. It was bad luck for Walker who has been excellent since returning to the club. The situation was made even worse with full back Richard Hossack yellow carded for backchat to the ref.

This Ponte team are made of stern stuff and a man down with a 24-8 deficit to contend with they had to dig deep. With forwards coach Andy Lund on as unaccustomed front row replacement the forwards started to assert some control. The line out started to function and near the line a gain line breaking drive from Josh Hough allowed man of the match hooker Tim Pickersgill to pick and drive over the line with the Salem forwards at sixes and sevens. A Kay conversion brought the score back to 24-15 and Ponte were back in it.

From the restart a disciplined run of play allowed Ponte to work their way back up the field. With substitute Sam Millard catching the eye with some forceful drives Salem conceded a penalty near their own line. Normally it is scrum time from such a penalty but Walker orchestrated a clever move from the tap. With the Salem defence lining up against the Ponte pack on the open side the ball was given to Hough on the blind side who spun out of the tackle to dive over. An excellent conversion from Kay reduced the deficit to two points and a potential victory was in sight.

It was not to be however as Ponte could not work any decent territorial position and in fact did well to hold on to the bonus point as only desperate defence stopped another Salem catch and drive.

Best for Pontefract was Pickersgill and Hough in the forwards with Kay and Dedicoat the stand outs in the backs. The result is a disappointment but far from a disaster and Ponte who will be hoping for some better news on the availability front as having several key players missing and others having to play out of position finally caught up with the team.