Goole 17 Keighley 10

The first twenty minutes of the game saw Keighley penned in their own half, the untried combinations of players unable to attack or kick out of defence due to the shortage of quality possession. The deadlock was broken when Goole’s outside half Phil Neal broke through some half hearted tackles to score wide out. A little later some poor line kicking and clever interplay gave Captain Steve Morris the platform to cross, converted by winger C. Neal. Keighley through the efforts of their experienced players especially centre Adam Horsfall and number eight Josh Hannah marshalled the troops and took play deep into Goole territory. After a series of scrums and penalties scrum half Luke Daniels scampered over on the stroke of half time.

The second half was a much more even contest; Keighley resorted to a more forward orientated game and were at last able to keep Goole under sustained pressure. Eventually the gaps around the fringes opened giving prop Sam Booker the chance to use his power to drive over the tryline. Goole managed to resist further punishment and made inroads into Keighley territory with some astute kicking from their outside half Phil Neale. At a line out on the Keighley twenty two metre line, the Goole jumper was manhandled as he took the ball which led to a penalty. A quick thinking tap and go combined with lack of concentration from the Keighley defence gave Goole hooker Kyle Hall the simplest of tries. Keighley dominated the last ten minutes of the match, and indeed crossed the line only to drop the ball before the grounding. For all their efforts it was too little too late and they had to be satisfied with a deserved losing bonus point.