Keighley Town fell victim to some confusing refereeing decisions as they just missed out on a place in the final of the Illingworth Sevens.

The young team was showing the kind of form which promises much over the next couple of seasons as they took on some of the top teams from the Pennine and Conference leagues.

Town were the only Keighley team to take part and were more than a match for most of their rivals with some ferocious tackling and skilful rugby.

They lost their first game by just four points after having a try disallowed when the referee changed his mind after first allowing the score.

Keighley won their next two games against Park Amateurs and Illingworth, out-tackling the bigger and more experienced teams. The victory took the into a semi-final match against the Illingworth first team.

Town made sure they knew they had been in game despite losing 12-6 after the home club were awarded a try despite the linesman signalling a knock-on.

Duckworth, Kennedy and McNulty were top try scorers with six each in the tournament with further tries from Stokes, Benn and Muff with 16-year-old Kazim excelling in every department.

"Our 16-21 year-olds showed there is a great future for Town. We have a very young team with great potential," said a club spokesman.

Keighley Town are running two teams this season with training at Oakbank School from 7pm on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

n The impressive new-look Silsden Park Rangers kicked-off with a pre-season friendly against Heysham Atoms.

Silsden took an early lead when Paul Fryers took a pass from his brother Martin. Player-coach Jon Gwilliam and Andy Bowness gave Silsden the edge and 22-stone Paul 'Slim' Sinfield crashed through the entire Atoms, Williams converting to give Silsden a 10-0 lead.

Heysham's heavyweight pack hit back to go in 10-6 down. Silsden went further ahead with centre Danny Horne racing 40 yards under the posts. Horne showed impressive speed to score his second try before Atoms replied from the kick-off with a well-worked converted try to give a 12-20 half time score-line.

Silsden Manager, Graham Sheffield, was satisfied by the flare his side had shown in attack, but called for a clean sheet in the second half. However, the Atoms punished two mistakes to take the lead 22-20.

Gwilliam was sent to sin-bin and Heysham increased their lead from the penalty

After surviving some heavy pressure before Andy Bowness burrowed in under the posts from short range and John Williams kicked the extras to take a 26-24 lead and Gwilliam added a drop goal to secure a thrilling victory.

Silsden's Pennine League Division 3 campaign kicks off on September 7 when they are away to Park Amateurs "A" side. The first home match is scheduled for September 21 when they take on Sowerby Spartans.