Todmorden 14 Keighley Town 0 - TOWN found themselves battling a hard fought Halifax Cup tie on a pitch which looked more like a mud bath.

They had no opportunity to play open rugby and soon round themselves behind as a bigger set of forwards drove the ball in a display of one-man rugby. The Keighley side could not find their way over the line despite a fine man of the match performance from hooker Paul Scott.

Young Neil Kennedy had a good game at scrum half, prompting his forwards well. They were led by Darren Lynam and Daz Walton and Brian Ingham had a splashing time as Town looked to be slowly getting to grips with the conditions.

Fullback Ryan Hanson produced a number of probing runs from full back, but it just wasn't Town's day. Coach martin Plunkett was disappointed with the result, but was more than happy with the spirit showed by the whole team.

Silsden Park Rangers 24

Hollinwood 6

Silsden Park Rangers turned in their most complete performance of the season, as they picked up two vital league points in their fight against relegation. Prompted by a fine display from man of the match Mark Kent, props Mark Stott and Jim Coldwell led from the front as Rangers dominated for long spells. Skipper Neil Jordan also put in a top notch effort, and threequarters Ivan Tough, Wayne Hudson and Rob Leighton made big contributions too.

Despite enjoying the better of the opening exchanges, Silsden struggled to break down a spirited Hollinwood defence for a long first half spell.

However, they eventually gained their just rewards when a smart pass from Kent released Phil Lane inside in his own half. The strong running second row still had plenty to do, but he brushed two tacklers aside before outpacing the cover en-route to a brilliant 60-yard try. Andy Bowness landed the conversion, and a penalty to put Rangers 8-0 up, before the introduction of highly impressive new recruits Jason Lister and Mark Ormersher served to tighten Silsden's grip on the game even further.

Just before half time Rangers struck another vital blow, when a clever Bowness chip to the line caused panic in the Hollinwood defence, and quick thinking Stan Hare pounced for a well earned try. The excellent conversion by Bowness produced a 14-0 interval lead and his penalty shortly after the restart edged Silsden further ahead. For a while Hollinwood threatened a fightback, but they just couldn't find a way through stubborn Silsden tackling, led by Jordan, Stott and Kent. And it was fitting that when Silsden went back onto the attack, Kent was the man to come up with the match clinching score. With everybody on the ground reading a pass to Coldwell, Kent used the rampaging prop as a perfect foil, and sold a neat dummy to ghost through for an excellent try.

Hollinwood did hit back with a late converted try, but Rangers underlined their superiority with a last minute touchdown of their own. Experienced forward Sean Cooper was both the architect and scorer, as his defence-splitting pass put Nigel Chew in the clear on halfway. The flying wingman made good progress up the touchline and although collared by the cover defence, he still managed to pop up a return pass and send Cooper pottering over for undoubtedly Silsden's most popular try of the season.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Silsden will hope to continue their improvement of recent weeks, when they entertain Dudley Hill Eagles (kick off 2pm).

Keighley Albion 'A' 21

Underbank Rangers 'A' 22

Albion threw away a resounding lead to just lose to a Huddersfield team that hung onto the ball better in very difficult conditions.

On a windy and wet day, the Keighley side set off brightly with Chris Brookes spotting a gap at play-the-ball and diving through after only a few minutes of play. He then added the conversion. Just to show how easy it was he then repeated the feat again a few minutes later and calmly slotted over the kick.

Soon after Danny Seaton forced his way over despite the attentions of four tacklers and then Tim Cooper slipped a pass out for Gary Baxter to score in the corner. This made the score 20 points to 0 and Albion were cruising along.

Suddenly the handling that was running so smoothly for the home side fell totally to pieces and Underbank started to force their way back into contention. This was underlined by a try just before half-time which made the score 20-6.

After the break things got even worse for Albion with more lost possession.

Despite the efforts of youngsters Andy Broughton, Andy Bailey and Ayden Blackburn and the non-stop running of full-back Ian Anderson, the ball would just not stick to the Albion hands.

The visitors had no such problems and ran in two more tries before Chris Brookes gained some more respite for the Keighley side with a drop goal.

This however bought a five-point lead and when Underbank scored under the posts in the last minute the conversion sealed it.

Albion did not deserve the win but it is to be hoped they have learnt a harsh lesson and will apply it in Saturday's match at Slaithwaite.

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