Ripon 22 - Keighley 5

Keighley vs Ripon

The second round of the Yorkshire Cup saw Keighley returning to Ripon for the second time this season.

The squad were focussed on reversing the close Ripon victory from the last meeting.

From the kick off Keighley were dominant, holding the Ripon team within their half. Ripon defended strongly preventing any points accumulating on the Keighley scoreboard.

Both Keighley forwards and backs remained determined to break through for a try, with the Ripon defence remaining very effective with the kick clearing their lines. Keighley struggled to find the open space when returning from the kick, drawing the ball back in to the tight forwards competition which remained throughout the match.

Ripon broke through the Keighley line, going against the flow of the game, on the 18th minute. A successful conversion pushed them 7 points in front.
The remainder of the first half retained the same close battle with neither side enabled to add to the score.

The second half saw Ripon grow in confidence and showed their ability to spread the ball across the pitch. With this added to the strong clearance kicks, Keighley struggled to regain the control of the game. Ripon scored a further three tries in the second half.

Keighley forced their way through to a try with a strong run from the centre by Harry Gallagher in the dying minutes of the game.

This had proved to a tough game with Ripon the rightful victors.

Keighley could have remained dominant for the full game with more focus and a stronger desire from the full team.

The following is the match summary:

KO – 11:00am
Weather conditions – Bright
Pitch condition – Soft

18:00 Ripon score a try and successful conversion
Ripon 7 – Keighley 0

Half Time:

35:00 Ripon score a try but miss the conversion.
Ripon 12 – Keighley 0

40:00 Ripon score a try but just miss the conversion.
Ripon 17 – Keighley 0

53:00 Ripon score a try without a conversion.
Ripon 22 – Keighley 0

59:00 Harry Gallagher scores a try but the conversion is missed.
Ripon 22 – Keighley 5

Full Time::

Match Honours:

Man of the Match – Jacob Rankin
Voted by the Ripon Coach for a good use of the open field from Full Back in the second half of the game.

Top Tackler – Jordan Yaxley
Consistently delivering a high performance in tackling. Relied on by the team to stop the Ripon pack as they attempted to break through the Keighley pack.

Coaches Award – Harvey Kemp
A strong performance in the line out, winning some of Ripon’s line outs as well as securing the majority of Keighley line out. Plus a strong game driving forward to gain critical ground for Keighley.

Parents Award – Harry Gallagher
A great game controlling a lot of the play in the backs. Also steering the final play of the match resulting in a personal try.