Subdued Keighley have to settle for a draw

Roundhegians 13 Keighley 13

A SOMEWHAT subdued performance by Keighley earned them a draw against Leeds side Roundhegians, but the overall feeling was that the result was two league points lost rather than gained.

Neither side settled in the face of some over-officious refereeing, which led to a monotonous series of penalty kicks and scrums.

Lacking skipper Will Armitage, second-row David Iliff and flanker Tom Lowther, the Keighley pack often struggled in the set-pieces against the solid home forwards and it was a good 20 minutes before fly half Danny McGee’s excellent touch kicking enabled Keighley to establish a foothold in home territory.

Defences were, however, generally on top, but excellent work by scrum half Rob Wilkinson and flanker Shaun Minikin, allied to some good work in the loose by the pack as a whole, finally set up an attacking base for Keighley on the home five-metre line.

A pick up by Nor 8 Leigh Sugden should have brought a try, the unsighted referee judging that the ball was held up over the line, and Keighley had to be content with a penalty goal by McGee shortly afterwards to edge into the lead.

Roundhegians struck back quickly, and a rare passage of open play ended with flanker Tom Walsh touching down near to the posts for a fine try converted by fly half Alex Jones.

A penalty goal by Jones early in the second half extended the home side’s lead before a powerful drive by the Keighley pack following a five-metre line-out brought a try for acting skipper Craig Spencer, McGee’s excellent conversion tying the scores.

With ten minutes remaining, a McGee penalty goal edged Keighley ahead and, with the home pack visibly tiring, a narrow victory seemed likely.

Perhaps inevitably, however, it was the referee who was the final arbiter, spotting an indiscretion by Keighley, leaving Jones with a simple penalty kick to earn his side a share of the points.