Keighley 28 Northallerton 7

A tense start to a league leaders clash. Northallerton looked good, a big pack with a skilled set of backs intent on probing for Keighley weakness. An early retreat at scrum time put Keighley under pressure. At a scrum on half way Keighley scrum half George Marshall broke free, without close support he was forced to kick, alert full back Alfie Seeley followed up to touch down in the corner. The game settled into a pattern. Forward pressure, then if the ball was quick enough both teams were intent on moving it wide. Although Northallerton had a lot of possession, their attacks were blunted by a well organised hard hitting defence. A period of stalemate was broken with a long distance penalty from Alex Brown. Keighley managed to stabilise their scrum and slowly got the upper hand. A line out deep in the opposition territory was driven forward, whilst the maul was still moving, stand out forward Sam Booker peeled off to crash through two defenders to score.

Keighley hoping to continue where they had left off were guilty of over elaboration. A move through the backs was intercepted by centre Zander Metcalf who raced seventy yards to score, converted by scrum half Jed Bainbridge. At this stage the game could have gone either way. Then a try out of nothing, young Keighley winger Kristian Bealey- Kaye received the ball wide out, surrounded by defenders. He calmly chipped over the top, gathered the ball and stepped inside to score. Although Keighley had the lead they were unable to relax, Northallerton came at them from all angles. Once again the defence led by their back row of Parkinson, Snowden and Whyte was steadfast. Keighley after a determined defensive stint slowly regained control. Their experienced second row of Stuart Inman and Ed Keighley with support gained the hard yards. A sustained series of phase play was finished off with a try for hooker and coach Declan Hampson. In the last quarter of the game Keighley suffered a number of injuries and were forced to bring on their substitutes and re-jig the team. It made little difference, the subs Lucas Uren and Morgan Robinson soon made their presence felt. Some strong runs from both forced Northallerton to retreat. A neat break by Alex Brown in midfield followed by quick handling gave Robinson the chance to draw the last defender before delivering a final pass to the electric winger Kristian Beeley-Kaye who crossed in the corner for a bonus point try. Northallerton in the dying minutes of the game threw everything they had at the home team and came close to scoring. However, they were unable to break down the rugged defence. This game was a stern test of ability and character. Although Keighley deserved their victory and looked good with ball in hand, it was their defence that was the standout feature of the game.

Quality opposition was kept at bay by sheer grit and determination. Keighley now have a rest before they play Old Grovians away on the 13th of November.

By Sam Griffin