KEIGHLEY survived a tense first half at Northallerton in Yorkshire Two, before showing their class after the break to secure a bonus point 31-13 victory.

The result moves them eight points clear at the top of the table, and an immediate return to Yorkshire One looks increasingly likely.

Virtually all of the amateur rugby union matches due to be played in West Yorkshire on Saturday had to be called off due to the dreadful weather conditions.

But though it was still wet for Keighley up in the North-East, they were treated to a fairly calm day.

Dan McGee's side still found it a struggle early on though, despite having the advantage of playing down the hill.

Great defence from Northallerton forced errors from Keighley, but a try from Jordan Yaxley, as well as a conversion and penalty from Alex Brown, at least ensured the visitors went into the break with a 10-3 lead.

But Keighley rolled their sleeves up in the second half, and came out to play.

Good work with ball in hand led to them creating chances, and it saw them really move their tiring hosts around the pitch.

The pick of the tries saw young winger Kristian Bealey-Kay finish off a slick passing move to score.

Bealey-Kay ended up with two tries on the afternoon, with Shaun Minikin also crossing the whitewash.

Alex Brown did a solid job from the kicking tee, adding the extras to all three of those tries, ensuring he finished the game with a perfect conversion record.

Northallerton, to their credit, crossed the line for two unconverted tries in the second half, having the final say when they went over from a driving maul.

Keighley head coach McGee said afterwards: "We felt rattled in the first half, but I was very pleased with our second half performance up the hill.

"Questions were asked of the boys at half-time, but they reacted well.

"They trusted their skills and way of playing and that got them the win in the end."