KEIGHLEY have won the Yorkshire Two title in their centenary season, winning 24-17 at Baildon despite the hosts producing a storming second half comeback.

The four tries that Keighley scored secured the five league points needed to ensure chasing Wetherby would not be able to catch them, though both sides will now be playing in Yorkshire One next season.

On a blustery windy day, the title contenders started into the teeth of the wind at pace and within eight minutes were leading 12-0.

After good forward play and inter-passing, the ball was moved wide left for Alfie Seeley to cross in the corner, though it was too far out for Alex Brown to convert against the wind.

From the restart, the ball was kicked dead and from the resulting scrum for the visitors, another move to the left saw Alan Ebbrell break two tackles to race under the posts for Brown to add the conversion.

The game was then halted for 15 minutes while unfortunate Keighley player Jack Atkinson was taken from the field with a broken leg, accidentally occurring in a tackle.

Ben Parkinson entered the field to replace him.

From the scrum, the ball was moved left again and good play by Seeley, Max Wild and Ebbrell gave Alex Brown the space to race over near the posts for him to convert, giving Keighley a 17 point lead after only 15 minutes.

A further score looked certain as Seeley broke down the right, with Brown in support, but a last ditch tackle prevented a score.

Keighley were dominant in the scrum and rarely did the home side threaten, but with five minutes to go, they camped on the line and took the opportunity to slot over a penalty as the referee blew for half-time.

On the restart, Baildon, now playing down the slope, were rampant and a change to the front row added weight to the pack and a period of scrum dominance.

That resulted in a break by lively scrum half Tom Parnell, who was arguably the home side's man of the match, which led to a try on the left wing, magnificently converted by fly-half Andy Robinson.

This gave Baildon the spur they needed and full-back Jake Duxbury scythed through the Keighley defence to score under the posts, converted by Robinson to level the scores at 17-17.

Baildon continued to pressure the visitors' defence but a speculative kick ahead was gathered by Seeley, who made a magnificent 50-22 touch kick to put Keighley back on the home line.

Keighley’s scrum now regained control and with good line out ball secured by Tom Whyte and Max Wild, the visitors were threatening to score again.

A scrum against the head led to further pressure and with 18 minutes to go, a penalty under the home posts was declined in favour of a scrum.

From a resulting ruck, scrum half George Marshall fed Craig Spencer on the charge, who touched down at the side of the posts for Brown to add the easy conversion.

Head coach Dan McGee and forwards coach James Cunliffe then rotated the interchanges to keep the Keighley pack refreshed, which kept the home forwards at bay until the final whistle.

When that blew, spectators charged on to the field to celebrate the derby victory and the title.

As mentioned earlier, the title win ensures Keighley will be back in Yorkshire One for the 2022/23 Season, for which the RFU are reorganising league sizes, reducing the number of teams from 14 to 12.