Durham City 16 - Keighley 3

From the outset it was apparent that Keighley were the stronger outfit in the scrums and Durham bossed the lineout. With perfect weather conditions there was an expectation of an end of season flowing game.

Unfortunately this was not to be, the play was littered with imprecision and basic handling errors from both teams. Early Durham pressure through their backline resulted in an early penalty for scrum half Paul Armstrong.

Keighley fought their way back into the game through some strong runs from Marco Ferrazzano and Leigh Sugden, unfortunately the support was disjointed or simply not quick enough, which resulted in slow ball for veteran wing forward Michael Feather who had volunteered his services at scrum half because of the clubs injury situation.

For long periods of the half both teams were unable to dominate either possession or territory. Keighley’s Ben Blackwell levelled the score with a penalty from wide out. With the half time whistle beckoning a Keighley passage of play down the right hand side of the field broke down allowing Durham to steal possession, the ball was quickly moved wide giving outside half Arnie Stevenson an easy run in through a non-existent defence, Armstrong converted.

The second half continued in the same vein, Keighley's game plan involved an obsession with a route one approach broken up by the odd attacking foray from sharp winger Adam Sutcliffe. Although the Keighley tactics were relatively successful in gaining ground they were unable to turn the pressure into points through poor technique and basic errors.

Durham with more to offer were intent on moving the ball wide, away from the Keighley strength, the pressure they managed to exert through their backs paid off with a further two penalties for Armstrong. Keighley continued to batter their way up field and some half breaks from outside half Rob Wilkinson looked promising but once again the support was too slow, allowing Durham to clear their line.

Towards the end of the game the Keighley forward pressure was taking its toll, both Durham props were forced to leave the field through injury which resulted in uncontested scrums. Although there were a number of scrums near the Durham line Keighley were unable to use their superior scrumaging to any advantage.

Although both teams did their best on the day, their best was not simply good enough which resulted in a very disappointing spectacle for the spectators, and a poor end to the season for both teams.