SSE Yorkshire Division Two

Keighley 8

Bradford Salem 31

KEIGHLEY kept leaders Bradford Salem scoreless between the tenth and the 50th minute of this contest at a chilly Rose Cottage but paid for a sluggish start in which they conceded two tries in the opening ten minutes.

Graeme Sheffield, Keighley's director of rugby, said: “You will always get honesty from Keighley and we played well in the middle period of the match but Salem were more physical than us, more aggressive and a lot fitter.

“They were the best side we have played against this season but we got off to a slow start when we needed a quick start.

“We hope to have Rob Wilkinson and Allan Ebbrell back this weekend at home to Knottingley, when we are opening our gymnasium.”

Salem, boosted by the organisational ability of their director of rugby Sam Gardner, have now won 12 games and drawn one, and they included fellow former Cougars Ryan Smith and Dan Snowden but were without a fourth in the injured Danny Belcher.

Visiting fly Andy Robinson certainly played a pivotal role against their understrength hosts, showing a willingness early on to commit Keighley’s defence and scoring a great individual try in the second half.

What Keighley – who were without three potential fly halves in Danny McGee, Alex Brown and Rob Wilkinson and played veteran Nigel Curr at No 10 – needed was a strong start, but they did exactly the opposite.

Scrum half Ollie Mitchell had a clearance kick charged down by second-rower Rhys Green in the first minute and Keighley were never able to clear their lines before Simon Davies’ long pass put winger Connor Malarkey over for his sixth try in as many matches.

Ollie Mitchell replied with a well-struck penalty but the home side conceded their second try when Smith’s fancy footwork set up scrum half Jack Mitchell to score, Belcher's attacking potency not being missed.

Second row David Iliff was an early tactical change for Keighley, Elliot Barker coming on, and young winger Nick Holroyd showed his ability under the high ball under pressure from two Salem chasers.

Salem could not add to their 10-3 advantage for 40 minutes as Keighley foraged well in the forwards, Sam Booker putting in one massive hit on veteran Simon Davies to cheer the home crowd, and it took a bit of magic from Robinson to get the scoreboard moving again.

Spotting a gap in the home defence, he chipped delicately over the top and gently eased the ball forward again with his left boot before diving on it by the posts, leaving him with an easy conversion.

The in-form Booker replied with a try four minutes later to give Keighley some hope at 17-8.

But the door was firmly slammed shut by tries for Kiwi duo Ryan McKessar and Marc Gibbons in the 60th and 71st minutes, Robinson converting both, the second after centre Conor Wood had been sin-binned for a high tackle.