Keighley and Beverley unsure of fate of Counties One Yorkshire clash

The Counties One Yorkshire clash between the second-placed home side and the third-placed visitors was ended early due to referee Andy Baker pulling a hamstring.

The initially injury to the whistler came after 61 minutes.

Baker received treatment on the field and tried to continue but blew his final whistle eight minutes later, just after Beverley, who were looking eminently capable of triumphing via their pacy backs, had scored a converted try.

At first, it seemed that the result would stand as the match had gone beyond the hour mark, after which a result can be confirmed.

But Counties One Yorkshire league secretary Ian Scott-Brown, who watched the match at Rose Cottage, later ordered that the match be replayed, presumably because the result was in the balance.

Keighley’s head coach Dan McGee said: “I didn’t know anything about the possibility of the match being replayed until I came out of the changing room over half an hour after I had walked in there, but it was a very, very strange game.

“The referee pulled his hamstring after 61 minutes and had treatment on the pitch but couldn’t continue and we understood initially that the result would stand.

“Beverley seemed to accept this, and we are considering via our coaching staff and committee whether to challenge the decision to replay the match.

“There are costs involved for Beverley to come back over here and there is also the potential of a backlog of fixtures.

“Maybe the fixture could be pushed back to the end of the season when it can be seen whether it affects promotion.

“It might not even need to be replayed as, at the moment, we don’t know whether one or two teams are going up.”

McGee added: “It was a great game – though not good for the nerves – and at least it was good for us to play after our performance the previous weekend (a 32-20 loss at lowly West Leeds).

“We also didn’t pick up any injuries before our match at Bradford Salem on Saturday.”