Bradford Dudley Hill 25 Pilkington Recs 24.

RECS woes on the road continued as they threw away a commanding 14 point lead at half time leaving them scrapping for second place in the promotion chase.

They started strongly when Greg Smith sprinted 60 metres for a converted try.

The home side then exposed Recs’ weakness in defending out wide, but a blistering spell saw Recs score three tries in eight minutes. The first came Ian Stanley as he collected a spilled ball from the opposition full-back to score unopposed.

Recs then broke from deep in their own half when Stanley slipped a pass, Jamie Lyon-esque, to Andy Knapper.

Knapper broke 40 meteres before showing wonderful composure, drawing the full back, and placing a pin-point chip in field for the chasing Greg Smith to finish beneath the posts.

And when Mark Ashton beat the cover defence to a Danny Lynch grubber kick, Recs looked in command.

Dudley Hill responded shortly before the break, after Recs defence stood still appealing a decision, the opposition hooker broke from his own half with the last ditch cover defence only able to delay a try by one play.

A Lynch penalty conversion on the stroke of half-time gave the visitors a 10-24 lead.

The second half started with the expected onslaught from the home side – with Recs seemingly unable to hold on to possession.

A series of tries saw Dudley Hill level and in the closing stages conceded the killer drop goal.

Recs will need to address their away form to clinch one of the automatic promotion places.

The Amdec MOM was Danny Lynch with Richard Rafferty taking the Rosies Nightclub award.