KEIGHLEY made the most of their Yorkshire Two game against Yarnbury being moved to Utley, as they romped to a 31-0 home win to stay top of the table.

The game was due to take place at Yarnbury, but their pitch up by Leeds-Bradford Airport was covered in snow, so a switch was made late Saturday morning.

What transpired at Keighley was a decent game of rugby union given the intensely cold conditions.

Both teams spent the early stages of the match acclimatising themselves, which resulted in a lot of poor handling, and a stop-start feel to the game between two well-matched teams.

As the half progressed, there were some periods of enterprising open play.

Yarnbury had a lot of pace in their back line and Keighley shaded the forward exchanges, however, defences dominated.

After long periods of impasse, Keighley, with their back row in fine form, gained good field position.

A dynamic forward drive was finished off with a try for tighthead prop John Gibson, which was converted by Alex Brown.

Yarnbury grafted hard to get back into the game, but whatever they attempted was met with a well-organised, determined home defence.

In the second half, Keighley picked up the pace, and were much more accurate in their play.

Some solid runs by the Keighley forwards managed to narrow the opposition defence, which gave centre Sean Kelly the chance to arc down the right hand side to score, with that effort once again converted by Brown.

Although Yarnbury were still in the game, the Keighley scrum and lineout were going well, giving scrum-half George Marshall and outside-half Brown the opportunities to control the point of attack.

At a lineout on the opposition 22, the ball was secured and driven over the try line by the Keighley pack, with lock Ed Keighley getting the touchdown – his first first-team score.

Brown converted the try to make it 21-0, and with that big advantage, Keighley felt able to expand their game, either using centre Adam Horsfall to take the direct route, or moving it down the line.

From a driving scrum in the Yarnbury half, the ball was moved quickly, and full-back Alfie Seeley became the extra man, taking the opportunity to score wide out.

At this point, Keighley brought on their substitutes, which gave them fresh legs.

The inclusion of utility player Lucas Uren added some extra power on the wing, and he made serious inroads into the tired Yarnbury defence.

Towards the end of the game, strong driving play from the Keighley forwards gave prop Sam Booker the opportunity to use his strength to drive over the line.

To their credit, Yarnbury never gave up and battled to the end, but they were unable to breach a sturdy Keighley defence.