KEIGHLEY RUFC head coach Dan McGee said his side’s three Yorkshire Two games in the lead up to Christmas would pretty much define their season.

Except they didn’t really.

Keighley went unbeaten during their tricky run, but they only actually won once.

A gutsy 13-7 win at Utley over title rivals Wetherby was a great start to that run, but then they blew a good lead to only draw 16-16 at home specialists Leeds Corinthians.

And it was a clash of the top two on Saturday, but again McGee’s side couldn’t see the game out, with a 22-12 advantage over Hullensians evaporating late on and leading to a 22-22 draw.

The upshot of all this is that Keighley are still five points clear at the summit, with Wetherby in second, while that draw saw Hullensians drop to third, seven adrift of the leaders.

Reflecting on the state of play heading into Christmas break, McGee said: “If you’d said to me at the start of the season that we’d be top at the turn of the year, I’d have taken it, but we’re disappointed to only get a win and two draws out of that recent run.

“I think that’s largely because we didn’t finish Leeds or Hullensians off, and we were fairly comfortable in both of those games with 10 minutes to go.

“The decision making and penalties we conceded late on in those matches weren’t acceptable, and it has made both games feel like a loss.

“There was just a lack of control and conceding late penalties just put needless pressure on us.

“But being positive, we can reset now and step things up in the New Year.

“We’re disappointed with how we finished the year, but it’s still a positive camp.”

As for Saturday’s game on Humberside, Keighley raced into a 9-0 lead courtesy of three Alex Brown penalties.

A Hullensians try brought them back to within four points, but Lucas Uren drove over from a push and go to extend Keighley’s lead.

Brown’s successful conversion put the visitors 16-5 up, and while Hullensians hit back with a second half converted try, two more three-pointers from Brown kept Keighley 10 points ahead heading into the closing stages.

But as McGee bemoaned, Keighley failed to hold out, and the concession of a late converted try and penalty meant they had to settle for a share of the spoils.