1st XV
Matches
Sat 09 Mar 2019  ·  Yorkshire Division One
Old Rishworthians
17
19
Keighley RUFC
1st XV
Old Rishworthians 17  Keighley 19

Old Rishworthians 17 Keighley 19

Russ Gibson10 Mar 2019 - 17:39
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.keighleyrufc.com/t

A hard fought victory away from home that Keighley on the day thoroughly deserved.

Old Rishworthians 17 Keighley 19

A titanic struggle between two teams hovering at the bottom end of the league. To add to the difficulties both teams were handicapped by injuries. The game started well, the game plans of both teams were quickly apparent. Rishworthians were intent on using their big forwards to gain ground. Keighley wanted to move the ball wide. After early forays Keighley’s excellent full back Richard Tillotson broke out of defence with support from his winger and coach Danny McGee. After some smart interpassing between forwards and backs Sean Kelly used his strength to force himself over the line, Alex Brown added the conversion. Alex Brown at outside half intelligently used the wind, his kicks finding good field positions. However, the home defence was resolute. After absorbing a lot of pressure Rishworthians gained a line out on the Keighley five metre line, a take and drive gave their big prop Josh Crickmay a score. Keighley once again kicking well worked their way downfield. Some excellent work from the forwards especially prop forward Craig Spencer and second row Luke Carter forced the opposition defence on the back foot. A lovely flat pass found centre Alan Ebbrell at pace and a well earned try under the posts; once again Brown added the extras.

In the early stages of the second half centre Sean Kelly pressured his opposite number which led to a dropped pass, hacking the ball on he miraculously managing to pick up at pace to score. Rishworthians to their credit raised their game and some intelligent kicking from outside half Josh Kelly and hard determined work from their forwards put Keighley under extreme pressure. Some strong driving play was finished off by prop Crickmay, a well deserved second try. The next ten minutes of the game was a tense affair with most of the play taking place in midfield. The Keighley forwards to a man were superb holding off a torrent of fierce driving plays. Rishworthians fighting for their lives forced themselves into the Keighley twenty two metre area. A poor kick out of defence did not find touch, Rishworthians took immediate advantage, two smart passes and winger Anthony Shoesmith was over, well converted by outside half Kelly. With some five minutes remaining and two points the difference Keighley managed to keep control of the ball, experienced number eight Leigh Sugden was immense, his forceful leadership of his determined pack meant that play was concentrated in the Rishworthian half and stayed in Keighley possession until the final whistle. A hard fought victory away from home that Keighley on the day thoroughly deserved.
Sam Griffin

Report from Halifax Courier
Old Rishworthians v Keighley; Narrow loss for Copley side Old Rishworthians v Keighley'
Rishworthians missed the chance of climbing out of the Yorkshire One relegation zone, a conversion being the difference between the sides as they lost 19-17 at home to Keighley yesterday. They did enough to win and could have done so with a very kickable penalty chance which was turned down in favour of an unsuccessful catch and drive attempt. “We’re not done yet,” was the message from player-coach Chris Stone. “We’ll go on battling to the end.” Fortunately for Rishworthians the other clubs they are fighting with against relegation also lost, but at least the Copley club picked up a losing bonus point, which may prove crucial in the end. They had plenty of possession throughout the game. “We worked hard to get into the right positions, but failed to capitalise and virtually gifted them all their points,” said Stone. Injuries have been the story of Rishworthians’ season and they lost four more players from the previous week’s team before kick-off. Their only real boost was the return after five months out with a knee injury of prop Josh Crickmay and he rewarded his inclusion with two tries, one from a catch and drive and a second from short range in support. Keighley scored early, a break in the centre leaving Rishworthians floundering for a converted try. The visitors used the wind well to send the home men back, but they came forward again with young flanker Toby Muscat-Baron stealing the ball for the backs to progress. Crickmay took it on before it came out again and a clever run by fullback Luke Flanagan was only ended by a high tackle. Rishworthians went for the corner and a catch and drive from the lineout was completed by Crickmay. Another high tackle on Flanagan brought a yellow card and a very kickable penalty, but it was turned down for another kick to the corner. The catch and drive was unsuccessful and it proved a very costly error, especially when the visitors hit back with a second converted try after a missed tackle to make it 5-14 at the break. Early in the second half a poor pass went loose and the visitors took advantage, kicking through and winning the race to collect the ball and score an unconverted try. Rishworthians then took charge. They were dominant in the scrums, while in the backs there were strong runs from centre Kurt Sutcliffe and right wing Jordan Bloem. But it was wing Anthony Shoesmith who got them going on the left, linking well with No 8 Callum Heseltine before the support arrived and finally Crickmay was able to drive over from short range. The home men kept up the pressure and scored with the best try of the game. It started with a break from scrum half George Wright. The ball was recycled and sent wide for centre Doug Heseltine to make a fine break to put Shoesmith in wide out. Josh Kelly added the conversion. In the final minutes Rishworthians were desperate for the ball but were unable to wrestle it from the grasp of the Keighley forwards, who used a series of pick and drives to wind down the clock.

The Development team lost 24-22 at Keighley after leading 22-0 at half-time. There were two tries for Lee Atkinson, who also kicked a conversion, and others from Gerard Rollings and Luke Sutcliffe.

Match details

Match date

Sat 09 Mar 2019

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

Yorkshire Division One

League position

10
Keighley
13
Old Rishworthians
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Rugby Development Sponsor  - Adaptive Control Solutions Ltd.
Silver Sponsor - Hebden and holding
Silver Sponsor - Calvert Construction
Stags Sponsor - Front Five Building Services
Sponsor - Sugden Amenity
Club Sponsor - Sugden Contractors