Keighley 23 Goole 10 - Keighley eased to victory in their crucial league meeting against Goole with a much improved all round effort.

The return of back row forwards Rob Ellis and Peter Schofield gave the Utley men an extra dimension lacking in recent weeks.

They took play to the opposition from the kick off, several promising raids being spoiled only by handling errors on a bitterly cold afternoon. Schofield, in his first senior game since returning from a spell in France, soon stamped his mark on affairs with a powerful run. If he can consistently re-capture the form he displayed two seasons ago his presence will be a vital ingredient in Keighley's attempts to move up the league.

Full back Matthew Cox opened the scoring after 15 minutes, latching onto stand off Johnny Harrison's long pass at pace to split the defence and touch down between the posts with Harrison converting.

Whilst generally looking second best, Goole's spirit seldom wavered. Centres Cawood and Dougherty ran straight and hard and forwards Jackson and Wilcox kept Keighley on the alert. Stand off James Ruhman reduced Keighley's lead with a penalty goal, but this was soon cancelled by a similar Harrison effort.

The dogged Goole defence, however, was unable to respond to Keighley's work rate. Forwards Evan Griffin, Rob Clarke and David Pullen were all regularly in the thick of things, eventually creating an opening for the energetic Ellis who revealed an impressive turn of pace in dashing over from 30 metres out for an excellent try.

Keighley's half time lead of 15-3 was a fair reflection of play and they continued to control matters as the second half began.

Scrum half Adam Balderstone, another seasonal debutante, showed plenty of neat touches and combined well with Harrison, who unfortunately too often failed to take full advantage with some wayward touch kicking. He did, however, roll back the years with a darting run which foundered on the 22-metre line when he was caught in three minds and failed to find support. The stretched defence however, was forced to concede a penalty and the stand off made amends with another successful kick at goal.

Acting skipper Pullen's 10 minute spell in the sin-bin for persistent technical offences temporarily hampered Keighley's progress and the visitors gained heart from a try by scrum half Neal converted by Ruhman.

Keighley regained control as Goole threw caution to the wind in an attempt to bring themselves back into the contention, effectively making the game safe when Schofield's efforts were rewarded with a fine battling try after shrugging off a posse of would-be tacklers.

Forwards Griffin, Ellis and Schofield and backs Cox and Balderstone stole the honours on a day when every player rose to the challenge. With the influential Leigh Sugden, Michael Feather and captain Tim Marlow all now nearing a return after injuries, Keighley can realistically look forward to continued success.

They have a re-arranged Yorkshire Shield first round tie on Saturday at home to Yorkshire league two side Knottingley.

Coach Jeff Inman's plans are frustrated by the non-availability of six first team players. John Curry is on the wing and Scott Amos and Liam McGee at half back. Evan Griffin and Rob Ellis are missing from the pack, which includes Nathan Thornton at flanker and Ollie Sugden in the second row.