1st XV
Matches
Sat 23 Mar 2019  ·  Yorkshire Division One
Keighley RUFC
1st XV
26
13
Beverley
KEIGHLEY GAIN MAGNIFICENT WIN TO VIRTUALLY ENSURE THEIR SURVIVAL IN YORKSHIRE 1 NEXT SEASON

KEIGHLEY GAIN MAGNIFICENT WIN TO VIRTUALLY ENSURE THEIR SURVIVAL IN YORKSHIRE 1 NEXT SEASON

Alden Phillips24 Mar 2019 - 14:39
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As the game progressed Keighley began to dominate to win 26-13.

Bill Marshall's Telegraph & Argus Match Report:
Yorkshire Division One: Keighley 26 Beverley 13

NOT many Keighley fans were feeling optimistic ahead of their home match against fourth-placed Beverley in Yorkshire Division One.
After all, Keighley, who are only 10 points above the relegation line in 10th place, lost the reverse fixture 46-12 in November and had been beaten by the East Yorkshire side the last nine times that they had met in the league, only winning three out of 15 overall.

Following a bright start by the hosts, it seemed that normal service would be resumed as the visitors were threatening tries with virtually every attack via their pacy backs.
However, Keighley weathered the storm to lead 11-6 at half-time and showed their resilience to hit back from a harsh penalty try ruling, which put Beverley 13-11 ahead, to end up dominant in both the scoreline and in terms of body language.
“I wouldn’t say that it was our best performance of the season,” said Keighley’s head coach Danny McGee (who opted for the 18-13 win at Old Crossleyans in January), “but it was our most rewarding and our most enjoyable, and our second-half display was very good.
“We have only been playing in bits beforehand, playing in flashes, but the lads have answered the questions that we asked of them during training.
“We got away with things a bit in the first-half but that try just before half-time gave us momentum going into the second-half, and we pushed them off the ball in the scrum towards the end.”
Both Keighley and Beverley won early penalties from referee Kevin Weston (North Yorkshire Society), and the visitors took the lead in the fifth minute via a penalty from fly-half Phil Duboulay.
However, they blew “three or four chances”, according to their coach Ian Spence, who added: “You can’t afford to miss opportunities like that.”
With several Beverley overlaps going begging, Keighley were glad to hang in there, and did not show themselves as an attacking force until skipper Alex Brown’s well-timed pass gave full-back Rich Tillotson the chance to stretch his legs in the 16th minute.
Fly-half Brown levelled from off the kicking tee two minutes later from just inside the 10-metre line and, with Tillotson again prominent, Brown slotted over a second penalty in the 20th minute to put the hosts 6-3 ahead.

Six minutes later, Beverley pulled level via Duboulay’s second penalty after centre Sean Kelly was sin-binned for persistent Keighley team offences.
However, there was no further damage when the home side were short-handed, although the withdrawal of No 8 Leigh Sugden when Kelly returned (Josh Hannah proved a more than useful deputy) did raise some eyebrows among Keighley fans, especially as their scrum was in retreat.
That was put to the back of people’s minds, though when the hosts scored with the last play of the half, with Kelly showing excellent strength to force his way over.
Leading 11-6 after what was in many ways a torrid first-half was a real bonus to Keighley, and Beverley’s injury worries mounted as they lost centre Will Turnbull at half-time with a shoulder ligament injury (he had to have his shirt cut off after the match he was in so much pain) to add to the withdrawal of replacement prop Sam Kerry (knee injury) just before the interval.

Kelly was again in referee Weston’s firing line for a late tackle three minutes into the second-half, and lock Adam Kemp was then pinged for picking the ball out of the back of a Beverley scrum.
It seemed certain that the visitors would score, but with Sugden back on (for mobile flanker Tom Willson, while Dave Smith also replaced injured prop Craig Spencer), Keighley somehow survived.
The reprieve proved temporary though as six minutes later Tillotson, who had to come off with a head injury, was penalised for a high tackle, with Weston awarding a penalty try, despite Keighley having some covering defenders.
Beverley were now leading 13-11 but the pendulum then swung inexorably in the home side’s favour.
They attacked left in the 53rd minute and knocked on when they should have moved the ball right, and Brown missed a pot at goal three minutes later.
Keighley’s head of steam could not be denied, however, and scrum-half Lucas Uren capitalised on a Kemp break to score on the hour, with Brown’s conversion giving them an 18-13 advantage.
A great run in the 66th minute by left winger Josh Slingsby, who was Keighley’s man of the match (it must have been difficult to single one player out after a complete team performance), led to a penalty, which Brown slotted to extend the lead to eight points, and the biggest cheer of the afternoon was that dominant Keighley scrum four minutes later.
Slingsby then scooted over in the first minute of added time to put the icing on the cake of a display that had gone from being second best to being dominant in the space of 70 minutes.
Hooker Joe Kaye was presented with a first-team tie after the match for playing 20 matches this season.

Keighley have a vital match at third-from-bottom Hullensians on Saturday, but only need one point from their last three matches to be mathematically safe from relegation.

On Friday, April 5, Keighley have a league match at home to Heath, who are currently second (8pm).

Beverley website report
After fifteen minutes this match looked certain to end with a comfortable bonus point win for Beverley. After eighty minutes they had been soundly beaten and deservedly so. Their game fell away to an alarming extent as the match wore on – perhaps not becoming quite as dire as the shambles at Hullensians but not far off it.

Yet they started well enough. Some of the backplay was as scintillating as anything we have seen this season. They opened up the home defence almost at will with some thrilling inter-passing. A lovely run by Theo Richardson in the opening minutes would have brought an early try but his final pass to Jack Foster went into the hands of a retreating defender. It seemed nothing more then a minor blip because Beverley were in total control, winning numerous balls against the head and taking the ball on Keighley throw-ins at the lineouts. Beverley were enjoying almost unlimited possession and clear-cut chances kept coming although they did not produce any points.

Phil Duboulay did get them going with a penalty but two penalties by home skipper Alex Brown surprisingly turned the lead round. Until Duboulay levelled it with his second shortly before halftime Beverley against all the odds remained behind. To make matters worse their early sparkle was rapidly fading, and an increasing number of basic errors and loss of cohesion was creeping into their game. In injury time at the break an ill-judged pass in midfield was seized on by Keighley centre Sean Kelly who romped away from halfway to score the game’s first try, totally against the run of play.

Turning round 11-6 down Beverley started the second half camped in home territory and after ten minutes did recapture the lead with a penalty try, awarded after a deliberate knock-on had brought Keighley their second yellow card of the match. It was as good as it was going to get for Beverley. Thereafter Keighley got more and more into the game as Beverley’s play increasingly fell apart. They had lost coach Will Turnbull at halftime with a damaged shoulder which may have contributed to their losing their way. In any event for most of the second half they could hardly get their hands on the ball and looked increasingly rudderless when they did.

As the game progressed Beverley’s slender lead looked more and more vulnerable. Wave after wave of Keighley attacks bore down on them and only some stout defending kept Keighley out. Eventually after pounding the Beverley line for some time Keighley re-took the lead when scrum half Lucas Uren picked up from a ruck five metres out and scampered over. At 18-13 a converted try would still have been enough to get Beverley ahead again but the likelihood of their getting one was looking less and less likely. With the game entering its final quarter a Beverley penalty failed to find touch, Keighley counter-attacked from their own 22, won a penalty, and Brown promptly kicked the goal to put them two scores ahead at 21-13. By then it was just about what we might have expected.

Keighley’s remarkable resurgence as the game wore on was no less surprising than Beverley’s alarming demise, given how overwhelmingly Beverley had outplayed them in the first quarter. The dominance at the end was so marked that it came as little surprise when Keighley wing Josh Slingsby broke away from thirty metres out to touch down for a final try with the last action of the match.

All Beverley had to show for their endeavour, and the numerous chances they had had when they controlled the match, was nothing more than a single penalty try which just about summed up their afternoon. Rhys Innes had another impressive game in the pack, Foster showed plenty of determination on the wing and Liam Butler tackled splendidly when he came on for the second half but for most, not least the travelling spectators, it was a day best forgotten.

John Nursey

Match details

Match date

Sat 23 Mar 2019

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

Yorkshire Division One

League position

5
Beverley
10
Keighley
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