Selby 38 Keighley 15

A depleted Keighley team were outplayed by an energetic Selby side, who ended the visitors’ three-match winning streak.

With four regular players missing – including skipper Leigh Sugden, fly half and goal-kicker Alex Brown, and Rob Wilk-inson – the Rose Cottagers looked a shadow of their former selves.

An early penalty for Selby’s second-choice outside half Alex Webster opened the scoring.

Keighley resp-onded with a drive into the Selby 22 but the initiative was lost when they were robbed of the ball at the breakdown.

Some quick thinking and slick handling gave Selby full back Ben Lunt an opportunity to run around a slack Keighley defence to score.

A few minutes later, an ‘up and under’ from the Utley side’s outside half Danny McGee was allowed to bounce in the home half.

Centre Scott Dyson, chasing in support, gathered the ball to score between the posts, converted by McGee.

Selby hit back when pressure caused Keighley to stray offside and a further three points for Webster was the result.

Keighley had enough possession from all phases of play to challenge the Selby lead but a lot of it was wasted through ill-conceived kicking.

One such stray kick gave Selby the opportunity to break down the left. Once again, quick hands led to a score for winger Alex Arthur, converted by Webster.

Keighley reduced the deficit with a McGee penalty but, just before half-time, Selby gave the visitors another lesson in keeping the ball alive.

Off-loading before contact, they breached the Keighley defence with ease and outside half Webster broke away to score a fine try that he also converted.

In the second half, Keighley attempted to raise their game but the normal dynamic forward play was missing.

Even though they managed some fine drives into Selby territory, their efforts were negated through poor technique which slowed the release of the ball and allowed the defence to dominate. A period of hard driving eventually paid off for the away side with a well-taken try for winger Lucas Uren.

With time running out, Keighley were guilty of straying offside and another three points were gifted to Webster.

Then Selby killed the game off with a well-worked try for winger Ollie Sanders, Webster capping an excellent individual performance with the conversion to complete a 23-point personal haul.