Askam 42 Bradford Dudley Hill 20

IT was a case of cool heads and safe hands as Askam stepped up their promotion challenge with this win over one of their biggest rivals for a play-off spot, writes Peter Wilson.

In the end they had plenty to spare but it was no easy ride in a niggle-riddled match that saw the visitors finish with just 11 men.

Askam – sporting a special pink kit in the name of charity – got off to a flier with a try from their outstanding prop Tom Hopkins in the first attack but it was a lead that lasted only eight minutes before the visitors’ full-back Aiden Batey forced his way over.

Four minutes later the Askam defence was wrong-footed and Dudey Hill went in front with a smartly taken try by centre Daniel Lee.

The home side spent the next 20 minutes trying to find a way back into the game with stand-off Kristian Tyson probing for openings, but it was Jake Spedding who eventually weaved his way over for the try that pulled the sides level at 12-12.

Hopkins added his second try two minutes before the break to give Askam a 18-12 half-time lead.

With the wind at their backs in the second half Askam took charge and increased their lead in the 42nd minute when the Hill defence failed to stop Jamie Butler from crashing over by the posts. Loss of discipline proved expensive for the visitors when Neil Wall took exception to a tackle and sparked a mass scuffle and a red card for the winger. Three minutes Dan Sayle went in for Askam’s fifth try to stretch the lead to 30-12.

The dismissal of Wall did little to halt the growing number of petty niggling and personal squabbles and a string of penalties led to a stop-go spell. However, even with a man short, Dudley Hill showed no signs of going quietly and two tries from centre Martin Southwell gave them fresh hope. With just ten points between the sides a tight finish looked likely, but the chances of a Dudley Hill comeback were snuffed out when hooker Sam Dowsett scored to stretch the lead to 36-20.

Two-try centre Southwell clearly found that too much to take and talked his way into a 75th-minute dismissal.

Askam saved their most spectacular score until the end – a length of the field race that winger Tom Askew won for the seventh try. Tyson rounded off an excellent personal triumph by completing a 100 per cent goal kicking performance.

Although the win leaves Askam one point adrift of the play-offs they have two games in hand on the team above them – Dudley Hill.