KEIGHLEY may have won promotion after being confirmed as runners-up in Yorkshire Two, but they still have plenty to play for this season.

There are two league matches left – at home to Knottingley on Saturday and at home to Castleford on Saturday, May 7 – but there is also the 'small' matter of the Yorkshire Shield.

Keighley are due at Yorkshire One neighbours Yarnbury for a quarter-final next Wednesday (7.00) for the right to host Bradford & Bingley in a semi-final on Saturday, May 14.

Fly half Alex Brown admitted: "I can't speak for anyone else, but now that we have been promoted, I want to win the Yorkshire Shield.

"I have been here ten years and not won any silverware, so I want us to have a real good go."

After being defeated 19-13 by eventual champions West Leeds in the opening league game of the season on September 5, Keighley won 19 consecutive league matches in their pursuit of the leaders.

It looked as if the destiny of the championship would boil down to Keighley's visit to West Leeds last weekend, but successive defeats at Old Rishworthians and Pontefract earlier this month meant that the men from Rose Cottage have had to settle for second place.

Brown said: "The standard in Yorkshire Two has definitely gone up again this season and is probably the same now as Yorkshire One was the last time we were in it (2013-14, with Keighley finishing sixth last season in Yorkshire Two).

"We didn't play well at Old Rishworthians but we played better at Pontefract but were simply beaten by a better team."

Brown, who is on the committee himself, is also happy with the off-field coaching structure, saying: "Russell Gibson (director of rugby), Danny McGee (head coach), Hamish Pratt (player-coach) and Scott Dyson (strength and conditioning) have done a really good job this season, but it is the work that we do on a Tuesday and a Thursday that has made the difference in terms of match preparation and developing a style, whether that is work on the field or with a whiteboard.

"We are encouraged to express ourselves but that has to be within a set framework.

"As for next season, we are back where we feel we belong but we haven't thought too much about it other than that.

"I know it is a cliche, but we really do take things one game at a time."