Utley men fail to score at Dinnington for 2nd year in a row

Dinnington 29 Keighley 0
by Sam Griffin
Dinnington away is one of the most difficult in the league. Keighley started the game playing down the slope. From the outset the Dinnington game plan was on display, well supported big men driving down the middle, forcing Keighley to defend. Early possession and field position put Keighley under pressure. Eventually they broke out with good work from centres Kelly and Langstaff and good positional kicking from outside half Grayson Tihema. With their scrum and lineout in good order they took the game to the opposition and for extended periods of time were camped in Dinnington territory. The only reward for their efforts was a penalty that went wide. Dinnington through a series of penalties forced play back up field. A Keighley yellow card for a dangerous tackle in the back line gave Dinnington an advantage that they utilised to the full. A blindside switch from broken play led to a two on one situation and a try for their second row forward. The Dinnington pressure through the forwards was maintained; hard, well supported driving play from a lineout fractured the Keighley defence and a try for the hooker Ryan Corker. Although Keighley worked hard to respond they were often on the wrong side of the talkative official which led to a series of penalties and subsequent loss of field position. Once again a line out was driven up the middle the defence was forced to narrow and a well taken try by the Dinnington centre, converted by outside half Connor Brown.

The second half was always going to be difficult for Keighley, seventeen points down playing up hill against a much bigger pack. So it proved, some astute kicking and the well tried option of forward driving play was hard to contain. However Keighley showed a great deal of character and determination, everyone tackled their hearts out and kept Dinnington out for extended periods. A series of scrums tired the Keighley pack and they were forced backward for a push over try, Brown kicked the easy conversion. Towards the end of the game a driven line out and short ball forward pressure gave stand out forward number eight Dean McCauley a well deserved score. Although well beaten, Keighley were better than the previous week, the possession was quicker and there were less handling errors. This Saturday brings another difficult home fixture against near neighbours Old Crossleyans.
Report on Dinnington's Website
DINNINGTON 29 KEIGHLEY 0
BY DAMIAN WHITE
Dinnington moved into second place in Yorkshire One, on points difference, as, for the second season in a row, they shut out Keighley.

Dinnington knew they were on to a good thing when they got to the mid-point of the half, playing up the slope, without conceding, as opposed to their usual start to games. However, they had not scored in this time either despite dominating play and keeping the action for the most part in the Keighley half. It was only their mistakes that stopped them scoring and gave Keighley some hope of crossing the whitewash. The second quarter of the game was a different matter as Dinnington, finally, turned pressure into points. A high tackle saw a Keighley player visiting the sin-bin and within two minutes Dinnington were kicking into the visitors’ twenty-two and setting up Todd Bonsall for a try from a lineout. Five minutes later, Dinnington turned the ball over at a lineout and took advantage of further penalties to advance towards the Keighley line before setting up Ryan Corker for a try. Three minutes before half-time, Dinnington made a break from a lineout on half way and Alex Rimmington rounded things off with a jinking run to the line. Matthew Griffiths added the conversion and Dinnington went into half-time 17-0 ahead.

Based on the play in the first half there seemed little likelihood of Keighley scoring in the second half and this was borne out by the fact that throughout the entire forty minutes they made no line breaks as Dinnington’s defence worked well. The emphasis was more on how many points Dinnington would score but the early stages of the half were a bit stop-start with the game stopped a couple of times for injuries. Dinnington missed a penalty early in the half and had to wait until close to mid-point before extending their lead. A scrum close to the visitor’s line was pushed over and Ryan Donnelly, at number eight, touched down. Griffiths added the extra points. Five minutes later, Donnelly was scoring again this time from a lineout. Dinnington then put the pressure on and Keighley had another player binned for another high tackle for which they had been continually warned about throughout the game. In fact, the referee stopped the game five minutes from time to talk to them once more. In the final minute Donnelly thought he had claimed his hat-trick of tries when Dinnington tried for another push over try but the referee deemed he had knocked on.

Dinnington could have had a lot more points and another score would have sent them to the top of the division. They will have to hope that these missed chances do not prove crucial in the final analysis.

Team: Cox, Corker, Allott, Egerton, Bonsall, H.Williams, Donnelly, McAulay; Francis, Griffiths, Humphries, Rimmington, Leivars, C.Brown, Fallon Reps: A.Ross, Kraus, S.Thompson