Keighley Academy 41 Cleckheaton Thirds 5

WITH NO other Keighley team having a fixture last Saturday, it would have been easy to cherry-pick the strongest team possible but Academy manager Loz Marklew stuck to his guns by picking a side including eight youngsters.

It was evident from the kick-off that if the hosts could give the ball some air to the backs, an older and more experienced Cleckheaton team might struggle to cope.

Keighley were out of the blocks quickly when Martin Curr split from the base of a ruck and broke two tackles to score an unconverted try.

Wanting to gain an early stranglehold, they again went on the attack. Micky Phillips supplied Pete Watson after a break and he showed great pace and strength before offloading to Andrew Marklew, who in turn found Nathan Raja to crash over near the posts. Jordan Powell converted to give Keighley a 12-0 lead after only six minutes.

On 20 minutes the Rose Cottage side suffered a bad injury blow, losing Powell with a suspected leg fracture when challenging for a 50/50 ball.

Keen not to lose momentum, Nathan Berry led the way with a barnstorming 50-yard try and Andrew Marklew tagged on the extras.

A rare spell of Cleckheaton pressure saw the visitors open their account with a close-range unconverted try but Ryan Gibson, making his debut for the Academy, made an immediate impact on his introduction.

The youngster - who has been selected at Yorkshire under-17/18 level - made a 65-yard break before supplying Rossi Lacey to go over in the corner, bringing the half to a close with a commanding 24-5 lead.

Lacey added a second after the break following fast hands through the Keighley attack before Curr split a tiring Cleck defence, offloading to Gibson, who showed a clean pair of heels to score his debut Academy try.

Gibson, enjoying his role in the backs, showed great maturity with a clever show-and-go to split the defence and race in under the posts. Converting his own try, Keighley's lead stretched to 41-5.

The hosts appeared to get sucked into a forward battle in the middle of the park as the game became a war of attrition. Cleckheaton enjoyed a ten-minute spell of pressure and, but for some superb dogged defence, the score could have been closer.

The biggest positive from the game was the performance of the Academy's youngsters, who are improving week by week.