A cold wet day in Baildon for their annual festival, last year we won 1 match, this year we returned a stronger, more focused side, could we better ourselves?

First up Skipton. After a team talk from their coaches, the U11's were ready to do some serious damage to our local rivals and within seconds of the whistle blowing Maddie had established herself as one to watch by fearlessly tackling one of their forwards. However, despite this and some great defence from Dylan and Josh, Skipton managed to score two tries within quick succession. Keighley heads went down until an amazing try saving tackle into touch by Miriam and a try by James put us firmly back into the match. Confidence was high that we could at least draw this game and there was outstanding play by Jacob and newcomer Bob to support that but a last second try by Skipton broke Keighley hearts and handed Skipton a win.

Keighley 5 - Skipton 15

Next up were hosts Baildon and anyone who has played them before would tell you they aren't to be underestimated. The game started off well for Keighley, we were much stronger in the ruck and Michael, Harrison and Brody were performing well in the scrum. James scored the first try of the match and despite losing the ball because of a knock on things were looking good. The hosts are a good strong side though and despite strong defence from Noel and Adam they evened up the score with a cracking try. It looked like we were heading for a draw until a fantastic last minute try by Josh gave us our first win.

Keighley 10 - Baildon 5

The U11's were feeling good about playing their next team, Ilkley, especially after annihilating them at the end of last season. They were on good form and there was no reason why they couldn't do it again today. Maybe this confidence was their downfall as Ilkley quickly scored 4 tries and with injuries to James, Noel and Jacob things were looking bleak and some questionable decisions by the ref didn't help! Luckily the rest of the team were still on it and great defence by Dylan, Maddie and Harrison stopped Ilkley adding to the score sheet and great passing from Josh and Michael enabled Miriam to get a try for Keighley.

Keighley 5 - Ilkley 20

A half an hour wait and time for a hot chocolate and the team were ready to face local rivals Bingley Bees. For Maddie, Harrison and Noel it was personal as most of the team were their classmates. Having played Bees before, the team knew they were a good side and ones to watch. The game started off well, Noël was on fine form, literally running through the opposition to enable tries by Miriam and James. Bees were not conceding easily though and they made several attempts to reach the try line. On one such attempt Noel's cruching tackle put the Bees player into touch and not only floored him but also a member of the crowd! Josh was having a good game as well, producing some great try saving tackles and, along with Adam and Harrison, enabling Dylan to score another try for Keighley.

Keighley 15 - Bingley Bees 0

Last but not least, Keighley faced Aireborough, the only team not to have lost a game in the festival. James gave the U11's a motivational chat that apparently didn't kick in until the last 2 minutes, because they spent the first 8 playing some truly lacklustre rugby and could have done so much better, letting Aireborough score 5 tries without much effort needed. Those last 2 minutes though, Keighley woke up and started to play to their potential. Miriam, Brody and Josh did some great tackling and with good passing from James, Michael and Adam, Dylan managed to get the ball down on the Keighley try line, which, it should be noted, was only the second try conceded by Aireborough in the festival.

Keighley 5 - Aireborough 25

All in all a good day for Keighley, the team is taking shape and there are some very talented players on this squad. Well done to all.

Coaches Player of the Festival: James
Parents Player of the Festival: Miriam
Most Improved: Dylan

Match details

Match date

Sun 18 Oct 2015

Kickoff

10:00

Team overview