Bridlington 20 Keighley 16

What followed was an arm wrestle in midfield between two committed packs of forwards. Bridlington when in possession were content to kick and chase downfield, Keighley on the other hand looked good with ball in hand and tried to play open rugby.

Bridlington pressure kept Keighley pinned in their half, with their forwards in fine form the pressure paid off with a try wide out for winger Gary Stevens. Towards the end of the half Bridlington once again used the wind to their advantage and camped in the opposition territory, big prop Ezra Luxton charged through a gap in the defence to score, converted by Mellonby.

The second half started well for Keighley, Ben Blackwell landed two early penalties. Bridlington from that point onwards upped their game and starved Keighley of possession, keeping the ball in the forwards and driving play up the middle, a forward orientated attack into the Keighley twenty two was rewarded with some slick passing and a try for winger Will Davies.

Keighley replied with a further penalty from Blackwell. Once again the Brid forwards took control and their aggression at the ruck disrupted Keighley’s options. The major option in these conditions should have been pressure rugby through high kicks. However, Keighley intent on chasing the game opted to move slow ball through the backs, using their big centres to drive the ball forward. Bridlington had done their homework and countered every move.

As the final whistle approached a half break by wing forward Shawn Minikin found winger Adam Horsfall in support, scoring wide out, Ben Blackwell managed the difficult conversion.

This was a game Keighley could and should have won, unfortunately for them in the second half their forwards allowed the opposition to control the breakdown, and the backline lacked composure and failed to make best use of the weather conditions.

This Saturday, a home game against tough opponents Dinnington.