Keighley 28 Beverley 38

Beverley needed two points to be certain of finishing as champions of North One East, and they had to work very hard to get them. The Keighley forwards were magnificent, their determination and excellent driving play caused Beverley a great deal of difficulty.

Keighley’s Alex Brown opened the scoring with an early penalty. Beverley responded, a catch and drive from a penalty lineout eventually brought a try for wing forward James Holland to put Beverley in front. Two more penalties from Brown, however, overturned the lead. Almost at the stroke of halftime Beverley got their noses in front when wing forward David Worrall rounded off some slick handling to score, Phil Duboulay converted.

At the start of the second half Brown levelled the score with a further penalty. Although Keighley often shaded the forward exchanges, the Beverley backs were on form, some quick handling led to a try for centre Junior Tupai.

A little later a loose kick out of defence by Keighley gave full back Lee Birch the opportunity to run through a disjointed defence to score under the posts, Duboulay converted both tries and it looked at this stage of the match that Beverley would probably romp away with an easy win. However the Keighley forwards rose to the challenge, led by captain Leigh Sugden they set up a series of fine drives that put the opposition defence under pressure.

Two more penalties by Brown and some good back play instigated by Mick Phillips and Sean Minikin led to a well taken try for lively winger Sam Walker. With three points the difference Beverley once moved up a gear, a half break by Duboulay put Worrall over for his second try. Towards the end of the game second rower Gavin Gibson finished the Beverley scoring with a twenty metre sprint to the line, Duboulay added the conversion.

Keighley fighting to the bitter end deserved a final try, which was scored by winger Mick Phillips. Although it was of little consolation Keighley had the satisfaction that they had given their all, and had scored more points against Beverley than any other club has managed this season.