KEIGHLEY 26 - OLD BRODLEIANS 21

KEIGHLEY 26 - OLD BRODLEIANS 21

In a fast flowing entertaining contest Keighley withstood a late challenge from second placed Old Brodleians to secure a well earned victory.

The home side went ahead after only 3 minutes of play when stand-off Alex Brown followed up his own neat chip ahead to touch down, before adding the conversion.
Almost from the re-start the visitors were back on equal terms after a comedy of errors by Keighley’s mid-field backs allowed centre Dom Georgiou to score with skipper Oliver Ackroyd converting. It was soon apparent that the visitor’s strength lay with its sold pack and Keighley’s forwards were often under severe pressure in the set pieces. Lively contributions in loose play and at the breakdown by hooker Will Armitage and flanker Shaun Minikin, however, kept the home side in the picture until a Brown penalty re-secured the lead on 30 minutes, Keighley’s backs made good use of a limited supply of possession and a great run by impressive full back Alfie Seeley set up a fine try for wingman Jack Atkinson following slick handling by centres Adam Horsfall and Ben Blackwell.

At this stage Keighley were well on top. Strong running by wingman Luke Carter and Seeley could easily have produced further scores, with Leigh Sugden once being held up over the line. The only reward for their considerable efforts, however was a second Brown penalty goal after a high tackle, establishing a half time lead of 18 points to 7.

Keighley maintained their superiority after the break and neat work by Blackwell soon set up a try for the supporting Dan Snowden, his first for the club since joining from neighbours Bradford Salem. Keighley’s 16 point lead at this stage looked almost unassailable.
A 50 metre charge by Blackwell took him almost to the line but he was unable to find support. Excellent work by forwards Sugden, Minikin and Snowden in the loose nullified the more pragmatic approach of the visitor’s pack and solid midfield tackling forced their backs to resort to speculative kicking which was competently dealt with by Seeley, Carter and Atkinson.

Well led by forwards Bennie Pritchett and Bob Sykes Brodleians suddenly staged a strong revival. A breakaway from defence brought a neatly taken try for pacey centre Dom Georgiou, well converted by Ackroyd and they quickly added another when replacement Michael Briggs crossed under the posts. Ackroyd’s conversion reduced Keighley’s lead to two points.

With 10 minutes of play remaining, and the visitor’s with their tails up, Keighley dug deeply into their reserves of stamina. Flanker Tom Lowther was held up over the line and Carter was narrowly beaten to the touchdown from a kick to the corner. Finally Brown eased the tension with his third penalty goal as Keighley secured an excellent victory which moves them up a notch into 4th place and only 2 points off second place in the league.