Sadly, Home record comes to an end

Counties One Yorkshire: Keighley 17, Bradford Salem 23
by Bill Marshall
KEIGHLEY’S head coach Danny McGee had one word to sum up his feelings after their long unbeaten home record went by the board.
After 34 wins and two draws in a sequence stretching back to October 2019, when Leodiensian triumphed 27-12, Keighley were beaten 23-17 in a gripping Counties One Yorkshire encounter by Bradford Salem at Rose Cottage between in-form sides who had each won their last nine league matches.
That Salem, who went a point clear of Keighley at the top of the table, punctured the record probably made it harder to take, but it looked as if the home side would retain their Utley superiority when debutant full back Taylor Prell scored after 79 minutes, with Alex Brown’s easy conversion giving them a 17-15 advantage.
However, Salem full back Danny Belcher stroked over a penalty four minutes later and, if he had converted Logan Simpson’s breakaway try in the 86th minute, Keighley would even have been denied a losing bonus point.
McGee said: “Gutted”.
“We are not used to losing, especially down here, and I am gutted for the boys. We have put a lot into it, but in the end the result was probably right.
“We played for long enough with the ball in the first half, but were too slow to get out of the blocks and watched them play with the ball too much.
“Then when we realised that we could play with the ball we started to come back into it, but it is not the end of the season as there is still a lot of the season to play and a lot of points to play for and points to be dropped and we just keep on going.”
McGee added: “It looked as if we had the momentum in the second half when we started playing, but we should have done that earlier on. Also the penalty count was not good enough for us to get more momentum and that killed us as well.
“As for what went right, our set-piece on the whole was good and our shape was good. The heart of the lads was good, but not enough went right for us to win a game of rugby.
“We left some points out there in terms of kicks at goal (Alex Brown missed three penalties and a conversion), but it not just down to one person and we weren’t good enough overall.”
Salem’s coach Bob Hood said: “The issue at half-time (when Salem led 15-3) was that we were playing the middle third and the attacking third really well, but we weren’t exiting and kept ourselves under pressure.
“That got a little bit better (after half-time), but then came a tirade of penalties and pressure and we let Keighley back into the game.
“We got very little possession in the second half, but what we did with it we did quite well.
“We were still full of belief, we galvanised ourselves and the fitness was there and the intention was there, and it is better now that we are one point ahead at the top of the table rather than six points behind.”
However, Hood added: “I have reminded the players in the changing room that the job is not done, but it was quite nice to take that four-years-plus record off them and we were the underdogs going into the match.
“Out set-piece went well, as did the way that we kept the ball in the middle, and the lines that we ran in the final third were excellent.
“Also we scored a variety of tries - by driving through them, putting the ball over the top of them and by going round them, so we have all that in our armoury. We are not just a one-trick pony, and that is 79 tries for the season for us now.
“Also our discipline was a lot better. We have been down to 12 men at times this season, and our discipline was right up there as that was one of our worries before kick-off. We kept our heads in the fridge but still had fire in our bellies.
“We have now won 10 matches in a row but we still need to win all four of those that remain with a couple of bonus points thrown in, but the lads know that and they will enjoy this win, which was a biggie, and all credit to Keighley as they never stopped.”
Salem, playing towards the clubhouse, went in front in the second minute when winger Jake Green slotted a penalty from between the halfway line and Keighley’s 10-metre line.
The visitors stretched their advantage after 22 minutes when hooker James Brown forced his way over on a second surge, but it was a half to forget for his namesake Alex, who landed a penalty in the 32nd minute but missed three kickable penalties for the hosts.
Worse followed for Keighley four minutes later when Salem centre Suaia Matagi danced his way over for a try after looking like he would be stopped.
Green’s conversion made it 15-3 but, after something of a stalemate, Keighley were awarded a penalty try in the 68th minute by referee James Bex (West Yorkshire Society), with Salem fly half Andy Robinson also seeing a yellow card.
However, Salem skipper Christian Baines looked like he got away with a neck-roll tackle five minutes later, Keighley prop Sam Booker then being sin-binned, 13 minutes after he had a try ruled out for being just short.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, the home side hit back with a try by former Wharfedale three-quarter Prell, Brown’s conversion making it 17-15, but Salem, via a Belcher penalty and Simpson’s try from a grubber kick by scrum half Callum Smith, were not to be denied in what was a seismic encounter.