Keighley Albion 12 Victoria Rangers 16 - Keighley Albion went down to a shock defeat at the hands of Victoria Rangers.

Albion had the upper hand in the early exchanges but failed to capitalise on a number of chances. Both defences were solid, however a mistake by Rangers on their goalline gifted Albion their first try after a crunching tackle, forced and error and Chris Atkins scored under the posts and Danny Bowness converted.

Albion contained Rangers for long periods but in the 37th minute, after a series of kicks, the decided to run the ball. Man of the match Amraiz Hamid created an opening and sent winger Damien Smith on a 60-metre run to the line beating four Albion defenders.

Albion had a great opportunity to add to their 6-4 lead with the last play of the half, but knocked on over the line.

Ikram Butt went under the posts for a converted try in the opening stages of the second half, spurring Albion into action and within two minutes Wayne Smith stormed over.

Albion continued to apply pressure and were rewarded with a penalty which Danny Bowness converted from the touchline giving to secure a 12-10 lead. Rangers looked as if they were going to fold under the pressure and Wayne Smith again forced his way over only for the Referee to judge he had lost the ball.

This was the turning point of the game, Rangers took the ball to the other end of the field, chipped through a ragged defence and won the race to score under the posts. The successful conversion gave Rangers a 16-12 lead and although Albion finished the game on the attack they failed to add to the score.

This week Albion entertain Elland at home in the JJ Fee Halifax Cup (k.o 1.30pm at Highfield).

Drighlington 14

Keighley Town 10

Unbeaten Drighlington scraped home after being pushed all the way by Keighley Town.

The defence of both sides was outstanding, and after a shaky start Town began to look dangerous with Richard Shaw, Alan Muff and Andy Stokes probing the home side. Craig Morphet stampeded over the line to break the deadlock, Richard Shaw adding the conversion to give the Keighley side a 6-0 lead at the break.

The second half was just as bruising and Drighlington crossed the whitewash in the first five to draw level. Minutes later they converted a penalty to take a two point lead.

Keighley went further behind after a forward-looking pass was allowed to stand giving Drighlington their second converted try to go 14-6 ahead.

Town lost two men to the sin bin in as many minutes after tempers started to fray but once they were back to full strength they bombarded the home line. Good running by winger Tony Metcalfe and second rower Chris Ellison got Town inside Drighlington's half.

Hooker Quinton Sneyd played the ball out to skipper and man of the match Darren Lynam, he had support from Richard Shaw and Alan Muff forced his way over to score and despite missing the conversion they were back to within a try of the top club. Town kept the pressure but ran out of time.

The previous week they beat Crigglestone All Blacks 40-10 with a stunning all-round performance.

Cowling Harlequin 36

Wyke A 26

The lead changed hands five times as Cowling clashed with Bradford outfit Wyke A.

Shaun Metcalfe opened for the home side with a cracking try after five minutes. Wyke responded with tries from Craig Stewart and the first for Liam Hay, Gareth Sephton goaling one. Wyke 10 Cowling 4. In the final five minutes of the first half explosive prop Ben Emmott crashed over for Cowling closely followed by a superb effort from Phil Dowgill. Darren Greenwood adding both extras. The half time score was 16-10 to Cowling.

The first ten minutes of the second half belonged to Wyke as Liam Hay piggybacked two more tries with Howard Carr goaling one. With Wyke back in the lead both sides slogged it out for 15 minutes before Cowling coach Stan Greenwood played a double substitution masterstroke.

New boy Lee Cutler dummied past Wyke and scored a brilliant debut try. He was followed almost immediately by returning winger James Alderson who crashed over for his first try of the year. Immediately from the restart giant prop John Hammond took a fistful of Wyke players over the try line and a classic run-around move from scrum half Matt Giblin added another. Darren Greenwood completed Cowling's points with two conversions.

With two minutes to go the Cowling side relaxed enough to allow Liam Hay to cruise over for his fourth try for Wyke and Howard Carr goaled.

Man of the match was Tom Booker, Cowling have another crack at Wyke this weekend in an away fixture.

Keighley Town A 40

Balif Bridge 34

Town had to win to keep alive their hopes of avoiding relegation into Division Six.

They had been soundly beaten in their earlier meeting, but started with new enthusiasm, racing into a 16-point lead with a hat-trick of tries from Harry Burns. The foundation had been laid by a superb defensive display with Jason Benn, Melvin, Dunbar, Scott and Pemberton refusing to take a backward step.

Bridge hit back with a try and goal before Ahmed raced on a 40-yard run and set up Carlton Farrell to burst through four tackles to score. John McCombe followed up with a 20-yard try

Town had a 34-12 lead at half time but they switched off and a combination of missed tackles and dropped passes almost let Bridge steal the game. Hudson scored Town's final try, but Bridge hit back and came to within six points of the Keighley side.

Carlton Farrell was man of the match and Hudson kicked six out of seven goals.

This week they are home to York Groves in another game they must work hard to win.