West Bowling 16, Keighley 22

Ryan Gaughan produced the killer blow with just five minutes to go to give Keighley the spoils after a nerve-jangling Premier Division clash with West Bowling at Emsleys Rec.

Bowling, who were looking likely victors when leading 16-14 at that stage, had wingman Shab Khan sent to the sin-bin for a professional foul when he prevented stand-off Bob Spencer from playing the ball, handing the visitors their golden opportunity to steal the points.

The two sides had been evenly matched in the opening quarter until substitute forward Nigel Halmshaw worked his way to the whitewash on his first touch of the ball, leaving scrum half Ben Heald to tag on the extras.

Yet it was a shortlived lead as Keighley restored parity when Spencer produced a wicked cut-out pass to put wingman Owen Palmer over in the corner, with full back Kris Gott landing a touchline conversion.

Bowling loose forward Aidy Doherty earned cheers for five successive tackles but then turned from hero to villain when he conceded a penalty and Gott made no mistake from 30 metres out.

Keighley hooker Rick Hollins made his bulk count with a plunge to the chalk at the side of the posts and the half came to a close at 14-6 when Gott added the conversion.

Bowling came out with all guns blazing on the restart when a neat Doherty offload found Heald, who in turn fed Jason Marshall enabling the centre to dive over.

Heald made sure of the extra two points before another sweeping raid, started by hooker Gareth Cullington, created the space for wingman Jordan Laban to cross at the flag.

Bowling’s two-point advantage was looking safe thanks to the crafty play of stand-off Aidy Leek, who was dictating events with aplomb.

But Keighley roared back in style when Gott cut the home defence to shreds with a 60-metre run down the middle – and when the ball was shipped to Spencer, he was held down, leading to Khan’s removal from the fray.

Bowling’s tired legs could not prevent wingman Gaughan sprinting over in the corner for the game-breaker on the last tackle and Gott completed his fine afternoon’s work by landing a late penalty when the hosts were caught ball-stealing in the tackle.

Leek was named Bowling man of the match, with opposite number Spencer receiving the award for Keighley as they leapfrogged their mid-table opponents.