Yorkshire One: Beverley 45 Keighley 3

KEIGHLEY were unable to come to terms with Beverley’s style of play which resulted in capitulation and a try-scoring spree in the last eight minutes.

Beverley enjoyed a period of early possession and showed they were committed to 15-man rugby, moving the ball wide at every opportunity.

Keighley weathered the storm and exerted their own pressure. Their scrum and lineout worked well and they camped in the opposition 22 but they lacked composure at vital moments and were unable to turn the pressure into points.

Losing the ball at a breakdown allowed Beverley to break out of defence. Quick hands and a strong run from full back Luke Hazell gained a score in the corner. Keighley replied with a penalty from Alex Brown.

Just prior to the half-time whistle, Keighley were awarded an easy penalty. They chose a scrum but it came to nothing. Once again loss of possession at the breakdown gave full back Hazell room on the outside and a second try.

At half-time Keighley lost a number of key players through injury, which made their task doubly difficult.

However, they battled on and winger Joe Copperwaite came near to scoring after a clever interception.

Although Keighley gained good possession, they were always second best at the breakdown through poor basic skills or plain lack of aggression in clearing out.

The last thing you do against a free-flowing team like Beverley is give them extra ball. A loose kick out of defence led to quick hands and a neat try for scrum half Will Harrison, which was converted by outside half Phil Duboulay.

Keighley continued to lose the ball in contact as good possession and territory came to nought through simple inprecision, giving the hosts the opportunity to practise their running skills. The result was a simple try under the posts for centre Will Turnbull, converted by Duboulay.

The last ten minutes or so saw Keighley give up the ghost. They were quite simply put to the sword, with tries from Joey Franklin, Hazell and Harrison, Duboulay adding two conversions.

Keighley were in many respects flattered by a recent easy victory against Bradford Salem and their faults have come back to haunt them.

The scrum and lineout weaknesses have been fixed. Now, for them to progress in this tough league, it is the contact area that needs stern evaluation and correction.

Keighley are away to Redcar in the first round of the Yorkshire Shield on Saturday.