Newsome Panthers u-14s 0 Keighley Albion u-14s 48

PLAYING on the heights above Huddersfield and with a dusting of snow on nearby Castle Hill as a backcloth, Albion had things all their own way against a depleted Newsome Panthers.

The game was all but won in the opening 15 minutes as Albion exerted their authority to lead by 20 points.

The plucky home side came close to scoring in a short spell of pressure on half-time but otherwise it was a story of strong Albion running and slick passing as they recorded ten tries.

Try scorers were Josh Whitcombe (3), Harry Webster (2), Josh Charnock, Callum Smith, Matty Smith, Xander McConville and Nathan Dickinson, while match awards went to Whitcombe, Charnock and Alex Downes.

Drighlington u-12s 12 Keighley Albion u-12s 10

Albion can take enormous pride in their effort despite a heart-breaking defeat.

Keighley rocked the hosts with some strong defensive play before a moment of inspiration from Ben McParland gave them the lead. He outsprinted the cover after his grubber kick to touch down. Drighlington looked to make inroads but, led by loose forward Riley Corby, the wall seemed impenetrable.

It took another moment of magic for the next try when Reece Smollen dummied and sliced through close to the line, Caleb McConville converting to stretch the lead to 10-0.

Close to half-time Albion switched off and allowed the hosts to regain the ball when finding touch from the restart. Drighlington took advantage of some disorganised defence to score and convert, though Albion claimed the kick went under the bar.

The hosts took advantage of more slack defence to touch down but again there were doubts over the conversion attempt, which was awarded to give them the lead for the first time.

Breaks were becoming more common, with Smollen gliding through and Albion having Billy Lee to thank for a tremendous cover tackle to stop a certain try.

With the final attack, Albion moved the ball wide to Freddie Gape, who sprinted clear but was denied by desperate defence.