KEIGHLEY 22 HULLENSIANS 13

A testing start to Keighley’s league season, although deserving the victory they were up against a serious challenge from a strong hard working Hullensians.

The game started brightly, new boy loose head prop George Altham showed his versatility when he burst through and ran hard for the opposition line, only determined cast iron defence stopped an early score. Keighley with a lot of possession finally managed to to cross the line after a series of drives gave number eight Max Wild the chance to power his way over, ever reliable Alex Brown added the conversion. Hullensians were stung into action and probed through the middle and at the edges, eventually winning a well deserved long range penalty that full back Grant Bridgeman did well to convert. Keighley raised the tempo of the game and some strong running from centres Adam Horsfall and Ben Stead gained a lot of territory. However, the Hullensian defence was well organised and broke down every attempt to break through in the backs. Although Keighley attempted to move the ball at every opportunity it was route one hard forward work that won through in the end. Powerful drives and close support from a line out gave Second row Ed Keighley the chance to break free and pop a pass to hooker Shaun Minikin who scored, Brown converted. Towards the end of the half Max Wild broke from the back of a scrum, he was stopped just short of the try line, the ball was recycled into the hands of Horsfall who drawing the last man delivered to centre Kelly who scored wide out.

In the second half Hullensians signalled their intent, some hard work from both forwards and backs gained an early penalty Bridgeman landed yet another difficult long range kick. Keighley fought back, yet were too prone to slow ball at the breakdown or giving away penalties which spoiled a number of promising moves. Hullensians although suffering at scrum time never gave up and some hard running especially from scrum half Craig Wallis and centre Manoa Wacokecoke gained territory. They were rewarded in the end, a line out on Keighley five metre line was well set up and driven over by the forwards, once again the accurate boot of Bridgeman added the conversion. Keighley at this stage of the game were dominating possession, some fine running by Ben Stead in midfield was impressive, but equally impressive was the Hullensians first up tackling, everything that Keighley tried was broken down on the defensive wall. In the end Keighley were relieved to force a penalty, that Alex Brown converted. Hullensians, gave it all they had but were unable to add to their score. A good start to the season for Keighley, the team played well for the majority of the game, with the added bonus of a successful introduction for a number of new players, that showed great promise. It’s a long season, the relatively large Keighley squad of skilled players should ensure a high degree of success, especially if they are able to keep the penalty count down.