Northwich 12 Keighley 10 Keighley visited uncharted waters on their trip to Cheshire club Northwich in round three of the Powergen National Intermediate Cup. Heavy overnight rain rendered the first team pitch unplayable and the game was switched to an unfenced reserve pitch where Keighley seemed in more discomfort than the home side in the difficult conditions.

They started confidently enough, retaining possession for long periods and confining play to the Northwich half. They were however, never able to make real headway in the face of a tigerish defence. Northwich's pace and aggression gradually began to influence affairs and Keighley were fortunate when stand off Lohane Kiewiet, one of three South African imports in the home side, was off target with two penalty goal attempts.

Urged on by their impressive No.8 Graham Robinson and combative hooker Vuyol Pasiya, the Northwich pack began to cause problems for Keighley in the scrummages, leading to them being penned close to their line for several long minutes before the defence finally cracked and wingman Adam Bown stretched over in the corner for the first score after 27 minutes play.

With home prop John Brotherton dismissed to the sin bin for striking by referee Andy Daniels, Keighley had the opportunity to respond, but they lost their way amidst some careless and nave play, allowing Northwich to retain the initiative. The lively Kiewiet was given too much space on a lateral run which drew the Keighley defence out of position and hard running centre Steve Campbell cruised through a yawning gap for a try converted by Kiewiet.

Matthew Cox pulled back three points with a penalty goal after two earlier misses, but Keighley were left trailing by 12-3 at half time.

To add to their problems, flanker Michael Feather was unable to start the second half with a worrying shoulder injury, severely reducing Keighley's lineout options. Thereafter the main responsibility in this department rested on the shoulders of Rob Clarke, who responded heroically in difficult circumstances.

Keighley were also forced to re-shuffle their back division with the departure of Scott Amos with a leg injury, but ironically to spur them into renewed determination James Tillotson revelled in his scrum half role, causing constant sniping runs and clever kicking. Replacement Johnny Harrison used his experience to force play deep into the home half with some accurate kicking.

The combined 40 stones bulk of replacements Paul Sinfield and Joe McArthur established a new order of affairs up front and Keighley finally looked capable of snatching the honours.

A sweeping move by the backs, instigated by Cox almost brought a try for wingman Mark Beckett and several times forward drives were halted just short of the line. Time was, however, rapidly running out despite the home side's time wasting tactics and a try by centre Oliver Jackson converted by Harrison was too late for Keighley to mount a final match-winning assault.

Keighley have a difficult league fixture on Saturday at York (kick off 2.15pm). Oliver Jackson moves from centre to second row with Matt Gaffney returning at centre, James Tillotson is at scrum half.

With Rob Ellis unavailable and Michael Feather injured, Joe McArthur is at No.8 and Ross Balderstone at No.7.