Depleated Keighley contested well at Beaver Park

BEVERLEY 46 – KEIGHLEY 12
Keighley’s excellent victory the previous week proved to be a false dawn when they stumbled to a comprehensive defeat at the hands of an efficient and competent Beverley side.
The home side was quickly out of its blocks and only a keen Keighley defence, well mastered by centre Adam Horsfall, repelled a series of assaults by both backs and forwards.
A penalty goal by stand off Phil Duboulay opened the scoring after Keighley’s mid field backs strayed offside and this was soon followed by a try for second row man Jack Houseman after a barging run from 20 metres out,with Duboulay adding the conversion.
At this stage Beverley were firmly in control and assisted by some generous Keighley defence added two tries in rapid succession by wing man Ben Woodhouse and scrum half Rob Smith, both converted by Duboulay.
Trailing by 24 points Keighley at last upped their game. Tenacious work by their forwards provided more possession for the backs, leading to centre Alfie Seeley touching down in the corner.
Any realistic hopes of a serious revival were soon dispelled in the second half when home full back Luke Hazell crossed for the first of his brace of tries, the second converted by scrum half Smith.
Keighley’s lightweight pack was being put under increasing pressure at the scrums with Houseman and ex Saracens,Bath and Bristol man Ben Skirving to the fore.
Houseman grabbed his second try,, before Keighley again showed glimpses of their potential. The team lacks nothing in spirit and tenacity and was rewarded with a well taken try by replacement flanker Tom Willson converted by Jake Duxbury.
With time running out Keighley threw everything into attack and thoroughly tested the home defence. A fine run by Duxbury deserved a better reward, but in the final seconds of the game the impressive Rob Smith snapped up a loose ball close to his own try line before dashing the length of the field for his side’s final score
On paper it looked like a humiliating defeat but a Keighley side lacking a number of first choice players generally contested well.
Saturday’s home fixture against Hullensians (k.o. 2p.m.) should provide a more realistic chance of success.

BEVERLEY's WEBSITE REPORT
Beverley kicked off in this Yorkshire Division 1 match and immediately mounted an attack on the Keighley line. After 5 minutes of constant pressure they were awarded a penalty which Phil Duboulay kicked to give them a 3-0 lead.

There followed 20 minutes of almost continuous pressure from a rampant looking Beverley side which made light of the fact that several key players were missing due to injury. During this period tries came from Jack Houseman, Ben Woodhouse and Rob Smith, all three converted by Phil Duboulay to give the hosts a comfortable lead of 24 points to nil. Keighley were showing plenty of endeavour but could do nothing to stop the onslaught.

However, fate intervened and came to their aid when Phil Duboulay had to leave the field with a worrying looking injury. Duboulay is to Beverley what Owen Farrell is to England and they look a different side without him. They lost their shape a little and as half time approached Keighley came more into the game and reduced the lead with an unconverted try from centre Alfie Seeley (24-5).

Half time Beverley 24 - 5 Keighley

A half time conference between head coach Will Turnbull and the now injured Phil Duboulay appeared to correct the slight malfunction in the Beavers’ back line and, although Keighley were far more prominent at the start of the half, preventing Beverley obtaining much possession, things gradually returned to mirror the first half with a four minute purple patch during which full back Luke Hazell ran in two tries and Jack Houseman his second. Rob Smith converted one and at 41 points to 5 things looked to be all over for Keighley.

However they did manage another try by flanker Tom Willson, converted by Jake Duxbury to make it 41 – 12 and were pressing the Beverley line again in the last minute when Rob Smith intercepted and ran the length of the field to round off the scoring at 46-12.

Whenever these two sides meet we invariably see an excellent game of rugby and this was no exception. The game was played in a fine spirit and, whilst Beverley were good value for their 46 points and the bonus point to boot, Keighley did not deserve to lose so heavily.

A special mention should be made of the referee Graeme Hall of the West Yorkshire society. This is the third time that this official has refereed Beverley in this or last season and on each occasion he has been excellent.

Malcolm Cunningham