STUART Inman was getting some stick from his team-mates when he was in the clubhouse after Keighley's narrow victory at Bradford Salem last Saturday.

Sweat was running off his face and his sleeveless club shirt was also streaked with perspiration.

"I could have had a cooler day to make my comeback," laughed the 31-year-old lock, who was playing his first league match since injuring knee ligaments in February 2014 at Acklam – the season that both clubs were relegated from Yorkshire Division One.

"But the knee felt fine and it was good to get 80 minutes under my belt."

No-one was cooler in the 25-degree heat, however, than fly half Alex Brown, who kicked the winning penalty in the last action of the match eight minutes into stoppage time as Keighley won a see-saw contest 19-17.

"It was just a matter of practice," admitted Brown, who also landed three penalties and a conversion to add to the try that Jack Atkinson scored in the first half.

The goal-kicker maybe appreciated the fact that his hair had previously been deliberately shorn for charity.

Brown added: "I have already raised over £300 for MacMillan Cancer Support, and my Just Giving page is still open."

Keighley's head coach Danny McGee expected Salem to provide them with their biggest test of the season so far, and he wasn't disappointed.

The win left Keighley second in the table, a point behind fellow 100 per centers Bridlington, but McGee said: "We haven't set ourselves a target as to where we want to finish the season, either before it started or now.

"It is like Hamish Pratt said last season – we are on a journey, we take it at a game a time and we will see where it takes us."

McGee added: "We had the momentum just before half-time (Atkinson's try came in the 38th minute) and I didn't really want half-time to come.

"We thought they would hit back and they came at us really well in the second half.

"We played well in patches but we need those patches to get larger and be more clinical when we get in the opposition's 'red zone'."

Keighley host Beverley, who have won two of their three matches, on Saturday.

The east Yorkshire club, who are sixth in the fledgling table, won 61-15 at Acklam before defeating visitors Salem 30-24, but went down 48-19 at Hullensians last weekend.

McGee said: "Beverley have put some good wins together."