Strong Keighley overun startled Ilkley

The first game of the new season surprised everyone with the commitment and determination of the new under 9s team. Four weeks ago we did not know if we had enough players to form a team, let alone a competitive one. Only three players came up from the under 8s age group last year and the jump can be a daunting one as this is the first year of contact rugby. The Keighley players received a great deal of praise from the coaches after putting in such a positive performance on day one of the new season.

The game started in positive fashion with Jaydon Emmott and Bobby Derbyshire scoring early tries against an Ilkley side who were caught on the back foot immediately. Ilkley had no answer early on to the positive attacking running from Oliver Brown, Emmott and Derbyshire. When Ilkley did run at the Keighley defence, they were met with tough tackling from every member of the Keighley team. The Keighley forwards (Luis Spragg, Shane Friend and Finlay Waterhouse) kept hold of the ball when going forward and recycled well to keep the game flowing. Scrum half, Billy Addy put in a mature performance by passing accurately, running with the ball well and tackling aggressively bringing him praise from his coaches for an all round man of the match performance. Kyle Richardson and Soel Counsell deserve mention as their quick feet in attack and brave tackling in defence made sure that life was very difficult for Ilkley. Even though Elliott Keogh, Toby Salt and Max Akrigg may have had a relatively quiet game by comparison to some of the other players, however their contribution was noted as they made their tackles count when necessary and ran with the ball confidently.

The under nines age group has shown that they have a great deal of potential in their team. We are having to group the under nines with the under tens at the moment as we do not yet have a coach to run the team at the moment. We are currently looking for someone to take charge of this squad, as our coaching resources are currently stretched. If you would like to volunteer your services as part of a coaching group or know someone who could be interested, please contact us through the Keighley Rugby Union website or call Steve Welch 07736 469925 for further details.