Northallerton 12, Keighley 6 - The home side's robust forward effort was too much for a depleted Keighley pack in cold, muddy, windswept conditions at Northallerton.

The wind effectively nullified any advantage as Keighley kicked off with the slope in their favour, stand off Johnny Harrison soon finding that touch kicking was something of a lottery.

Already lacking the services of prop forwards John Duffy and Paul Sinfield, the Keighley scrum was under pressure from the start, but the loss after only seven minutes play of Rob Riley with a torn calf muscle was a devastating blow to the side's chances. Reserve props Richard Leach and Nigel Fitzsimmons tried valiantly to hold things together, but the pack was regularly and ruthlessly hustled off the ball and Keighley's role for most of the first half was a defensive one.

Northallerton had, however, little to offer apart from a solid forward game and their predictable close running from the scrums was, for the most part, well contained by the Keighley back row.

Keighley's potentially match winning backs had few running chances as the home side enjoyed a monopoly of possession, the only temporary relief resulting from the sin-binning of Keighley's Richard Leach for a trampling offence mid-way through the first half which led to ten minutes of uncontested scrummageing.

Against the odds, however, Keighley held out until after surviving two penalty goal misses by full back Ed Bulman, skipper Steve Robinson drove over for a try from a tapped penalty after 30 minutes play with Bulman converting.

Two penalty goals by Johnny Harrison early in the second half kept Keighley's chances alive. The out-gunned pack stuck heroically to its task and Northallerton's forward effort began to falter in the face of Keighley's firm tackling. With the ball in hand Keighley's backs looked capable of snatching victory from the scraps of possession they enjoyed from time to time.

After a shaky first half, scrum half Ian Woodwiss came to terms with the difficult conditions and the maundering home flankers, providing a better service to stand off Harrison. A break by full back Warren Knowles was halted on the home 22 metre line when he failed to find support and centre Dale Towler chose the wrong option in mid-field when he attempted to cut inside with a clear overlap to his left.

Northallerton's pack, however, regained its grip on the game in the final stages and with five minutes play remaining, Robinson forced his way over for his second try after picking up from a scrum five metres from the Keighley line.

It was a cruel reversal for a Keighley side which earlier in the season had run in 52 points against the same opposition.

Perhaps a timely warning against complacency will do them no harm. In the meantime, coach Tim Brunskill will be considering anxiously his front row options for the crucial matches ahead.