Keighley Under 9’s v North Ribblesdale Under 9’s at Keighley

• STARTING TEAM
• Aaron Wilson
• Harry Gould
• Harvey Bird
• Kian Saunders
• Lennon Curr
• Jack Rodborne
• Will Halliday
• Zac Scott
• Keir Welch
• SUBS
• James Field
• Alex Wormersley
• Joss McArthur
• Tom Richardson

GAME 1

North Ribblesdale were the visitors to Keighley today. However within 30 sec of the start they must have realised they were in for a torrid time. Lennon Curr made a run from the half way line and passed the ball to Harry Gould who scored the first try.
From the restart Will Halliday, man of the match, closed Ribblesdale down quickly. Jack Rodborne stole the ball & scored a second try. Time and time again & despite their best efforts Ribblesdale seemed powerless to stop Keighley’s marauding runs.
A slick passing movement to Zac Scott who passed it to Aaron Wilson, who moved the ball out quickly to Lennon Curr resulted in a further try.
Halliday enhanced his reputation as a ferocious tackler with a crunching tackle on a Ribblesdale forward, Kian Saunders pounced on the loose ball and set off on a jinking run and fed the ball to Scott who then dived over the try line.
Half time saw Keighley making changes to forwards and backs proving they have real strength in depth. On came Joss McArthur, Alex Wormersley & James Field. Ribblesdale came out and immediately set about making inroads into the Keighley defence. They were met by stern resistance; Rodborne stole the ball and ran half the length of the pitch to score the 5th try.
At the restart Ribblesdale pressured, this time Halliday stole the ball but knocked on. From the resulting scrum Harvey Bird powered forward and laid the ball off to James field who crossed the try line.
From the restart Ribblesdale ran at the heart of the Keighley defence. A quick pass out to the wing exposed Keighley flanks and Ribblesdale crossed over for consolation try. This gave Ribblesdale confidence and lifted their spirits, but Keighley proved strong in defence as well as attack.
Ribblesdale could have added a further try but for a try saving tackle by Halliday just feet from the try line.

FINAL SCORE - KEIGHLEY 11 TRIES (55) - RIBBLESDALE 1 TRY (5)

GAME 2

The second game was not such a one sided affair. Ribblesdale encouraged by their late improvement in the first game took the game straight to Keighley. Again Keighley resisted, Tom Richardson, Zak Scott and Keir Welch particularly keen to halt Ribblesdale's progress pushed the visitors back.
Keighley stole the ball but a forward pass resulted in scrum just feet from Ribblesdale try line. Lennon Curr seized the ball but was knocked into touch by a good defensive tackle. From the line out Ribblesdale moved the ball swiftly across their own try line but a fearsome tackle by Aaron Wilson caused Ribblesdale to spill the ball presenting Gould with an easy opportunity.
From the restart Keir Welch slowed up the Ribblesdale forwards allowing Will Halliday to prize the ball out of hand and run from the half way line to score.
The second half saw Keighley once again make more changes to forwards and backs and they started with Bird running at the Ribblesdale defence. From the ruck, the ball was passed to Harry Gould who again proved unstoppable scoring another try.
If Keighley thought they were in for an easy second game, Ribblesdale quickly proved them wrong scoring two trys in quick succession. Keighley responded immediately. A run by James Field and pass to Aaron Wilson who dodged passed two defenders before offloading the ball to Gould who then scored.
A third Ribblesdale try once again proved they were not to be underestimated, but from the restart a long run by Alex Wormersley split the Ribblesdale defence, he then passed the ball to Harvey Bird who duly scored.

FINAL SCORE - KEIGHLEY 6 TRIES (30) - RIBBLESDALE 3 TRIES (15)

Report compiled by Nick Wilson