Keighley suffer under Pocklington domination

Pocklington 35 Keighley 3
by Sam Griffin
Any chance Keighley had of promotion slipped away in a scrappy one sided game at Pocklington. The early stages of the game were dominated by the home team, their big forwards were in their element against a distinctly lack lustre Keighley pack that managed to lose three line out in a row. Pocklington dominating territory were first on the scoreboard with a penalty from outside half Chris Pollock. Eventually Keighley managed to gain a foothold in the opposition half, Alex Brown levelled the score with a penalty. As the first half drew to a close Pocklington added a second penalty from Pollock to take the lead. Keighley managed to force themselves back into contention with some hard runs down the midfield from centres Horsfall and Kelly, and some neat running from debutant speedy winger Amrit Sharma. Once again poor discipline cost Keighley dearly. A penalty gave Pocklington the chance of a line out five metres out, clean ball, maul set and a drive gave prop Jim Thornton a try, Pollock added the conversion.

Within five minutes of the second half yet another penalty gave Pocklington a line out and a carbon copy try for Prop Thornton, and another conversion for Pollock. With a lead of seventeen points and the rain pouring down Pocklington with their scrum half Jack Bickerdike in fine form and his pack in dominant mood managed to dominate territory and possession and were in the ascendency. Pressure in the Keighley twenty two metre area gave fly half Tom Glen the time and space to drop a goal. Keighley managed to regain some territory and possession and put some phases together, but they were unable to turn the pressure into points through poor handling and losing the ball in the contact area. On seventy minutes Pocklington from yet another line out moved the ball left and Pollock added to his personal tally with a try, the conversion hit the post and Pocklington went into the closing ten minutes 28-3 in front. Once again Keighley with pride at stake forced their way back into Pocklington territory but were beaten back by the conditions and a watertight defence. With a big lead Pocklington were intent on finishing the game with a bonus point try. With time running out, a poor defensive set up made it easy for Pollock to kick the ball through, winning the forty metre foot race to score in the corner. To add insult to injury he also landed the difficult conversion. It is often said that in rugby union the forwards win the game and the backs decide by how many, certainly true for this game, the Keighley forwards were distinctly second best. Next week Keighley have the chance to make amends with a home Yorkshire Shield fixture against West Leeds.

Pocklington Match Report
Pocklington earned a bonus point win at Percy Road, beating high flying Keighley 35-3.

In their penultimate home league fixture of the campaign, Pocklington were first out of the blocks taking the lead on 9 minutes with a penalty from man of the match Christian Pollock. Keighley levelled things on 12 minutes with a penalty, their only score of the day.

As the first half drew to a close Pocklington had added a second penalty to lead 6-3 and went for the left corner with a penalty to touch. With clean ball and the maul set, forwards and backs went all in and drove forward for front row Jim Thornton to cross for a first try. Pollock converted making the half time score 13-3.

Five minutes into the second half Pocklington won a lineout from a penalty and mauled over the line for Thornton to claim his second try, Pollock converted stretching the lead to 20-3.

With Pocklington defying the damp conditions they dominated territory and possession and were in the ascendency, attacking the visitors line with patience and skill. Debutant fly half Tom Glenn came on at half time and as Pock built pressure around the centre of the 22 metre line, Glenn dropped into the pocket and slotted a well executed drop goal.

On 70 minutes Pock moved the ball left and Pollock added to his personal tally with a try, the conversion hit the post and Pock went into the closing 10 minutes 28-3 in front.

Chasing a bonus point and defending heroically when required, Pocklington were playing outstanding rugby, much to the delight of the biggest crowd of the season cheering on from the sidelines. Noise levels reached a crescendo when centre Louis Sangwin put in a crunching tackle to end a promising attack from the visitors.

As the final whistle approached, it seemed as though the bonus point was elusive but as Pollock took the ball forward on the left he chipped the ball perfectly landing it over the try line from 40 metres out and winning the foot race to touch down for a try, which he converted to seal a perfect performance and win.