Keighley 17 - Dinnington 16

Dinnington opened the scoring with a penalty from outside half D.Wilkinson, Alex Brown soon levelled with a penalty for a ruck infringement. Apart from some storming runs from Keighley centre Marco Ferrazzano the first thirty minutes of the game was taken up with pick and drive rugby which suited the solid Dinnington pack and their overall game plan.

When both teams attempted to move the ball wide no one appeared to have the pace or guile to breakdown well organised defences. A further penalty from Wilkinson and a yellow card for Keighley captain Leigh Sugden gave Dinnington the opportunity they needed, keeping the ball amongst the forwards they mauled and rucked their way into the Keighley twenty two metre area, eventually big number eight Will Marshall was driven over the try line, Wilkinson added the conversion. On the stroke of half time Alex Brown managed to reduce the deficit with a penalty.

In the second half Dinnington extended their lead with a further penalty from Wilkinson. Keighley at last realised that they needed to move the solid Dinnington forwards around the field, and a ready supply of possession gave ‘new boys’ Marco Ferrazzano and winger Sean Kelly the opportunity to take defenders on.

With their defence under pressure Dinnington gave away a number of penalties, one of which Alex Brown converted. Keighley sensing that the opposition forwards were tiring lifted the pace of the game, some good work from their forwards together with the direct play of Ferrazzano pushed play deep into Dinnington territory and another three points for Alex Brown.

In the final quarter Keighley dominated possession and territory. Although they had a number of penalty decisions in their favour they spurned the opportunity of easy points, instead they opted for scrums in an attempt to force their way over the line.

With a defender yellow carded for killing the ball at a ruck they eventually turned the constant pressure into points. A loose kick from a Dinnington defender was well fielded by Lucas Uren, rather than attack down his wing channel he moved the ball quickly in field to Alex Brown, who found Liam McGee in support, with the defenders back peddling he gave Flynn the chance to make ground down the left, a quick inside pass to McGee and a simple pop pass gave Adam Balderstone a well taken match winning try.

Although Keighley did not play particularly well, on balance they deserved their victory through sheer rugged persistence and fitness. This Saturday Keighley have another difficult challenge, away to Castleford.