Keighley 23 Sheffield 7

The early stages of the half were an ‘arm wrestle’ between two packs of well matched forwards. When the ball did emerge into the backs Sheffield looked dangerous on the wings. Keighley on the other hand with muscular centres Marco Ferrezzano and Scott Dyson in commanding mood were causing Sheffield difficulties in the middle of the field.

Eventually the stalemate was broken, a dummy run from Ferrezzano caused a gap in the opposition defence which Scott Dyson exploited, taking the ball deep into Sheffield territory he found full back Rob Wilkinson in close support. A couple of slick passes gave winger Lucas Uren the chance to step inside and score, converted by Brown. Sheffield raised their game and pushed Keighley back into their half, after a series of scrums and rucks Sheffield’s second rower Tom White was driven over for a deserved try, converted by Joe Cribley. In the dying minutes of the half Alex Brown converted pressure into points with a penalty from wide out.

In the second half, Keighley through the fine work of centres Ferrazzano and Dyson continued to dominate the midfield, creating havoc whenever they were in possession. The constant pressure caused Sheffield to stray offside and another three points for Brown.

Excellent line out work from Keighley’s second row of Lister and Inman, and the powerful drives that featured all the forwards eventually began to tell on the Sheffield eight. Sustained pressure forced Sheffield into their twenty two metre area, after a series of well coordinated drives, and with the defence on the back foot the ball eventually arrived in the hands of Marco Ferrazzano who powered his way through a massed defence to score under the posts, Brown added the conversion.

Sheffield with time running made one last concerted effort. Although they spent extended periods of time in Keighley territory they were unable to cause the defence any difficulties, every attack they made was met with an impressive display of first up tackling.

Having run out of ideas, and slowly wilting under the Keighley forward pressure Sheffield were forced to concede territory and defend. As the game drew to a close, some powerful driving play gave Brown the opportunity to finish the game with a well struck penalty.