Keighley batter Bridlington in brilliant win at Rose Cottage

Within minutes of the start, a strong run by Keighley back row Emile Van Zyl split the opposition defence, the ball was quickly moved to the wing, and Taylor Prell was over in the corner.

Prell was quickly back in the thick of things, his blistering pace causing havoc all afternoon at Rose Cottage.

His quick hands found Jordan Yaxley in support and he went over for a well-taken try that Alex Brown converted.

Keighley had learned their lessons from last week’s turgid victory over Hullensians, with their breakdown play much quicker and accurate distribution giving both wingers plenty of ball and space.

Yet another attack from Prell was stopped short of the line, but the last defender was adjudged to have made a high tackle that led to a penalty try.

Bridlington forced their way back into the game but were hampered by a dominant Keighley scrum and defensive pressure that forced them into a kicking game.

Keighley’s forwards and backs squeezed the life out of the brave Bridlington defence and the continual pressure led to a sniping try for home scrum half Nathan Pickles, Brown adding the extras.

A little later, a loose defensive kick from Bridlington was fielded by full back Ben Stead, who chose to attack.

After making good ground, the ball found Brown, who countered the rush defence with a chip through that centre Adam Horsfall pounced on to score,

Brown converted that score, but it was Bridlington who had the final say in the first half, as speedy full back Charlie Watts went over for a try wide out. 

The second half started slowly, and while the visitors gained confidence and were intent on attacking, a promising play from them broke down in the Keighley half.

The ball found its way into the hands of Prell who raced sixty yards to score under the posts, Brown converting.

Bridlington could not get a handle on Keighley speedster Taylor Prell all afternoon. (Image: John Ashton.)

The Bridlington forwards, although suffering somewhat in the scrum, gave it their all and managed to gain good ground but too often moves broke down.

And when a kick was dealt with by Stead, he broke away, the move culminating in winger Alan Ebbrell exposing a gap in the defence to sprint through to score, with Brown adding the extras.

Although the scoreboard was against them, Bridlington never gave up and were rewarded for their efforts with a well taken try for Billy Carter, converted by captain Matiu Welch.

Keighley refused to rest on their laurels and once again full back Stead found himself in possession in midfield.

Rounding the first defender, he raced away to score, his try converted by Brown.

Not to be outdone after spending all game distributing possession to others, outside half Brown produced a cheeky show and go to break free and score, before adding on the extra two points.

Keighley, with the end in sight, gained a scrum on the Bridlington five metre line, and a well-controlled drive led to a converted try from No.8 Tom Whyte.

In the dying moments, Keighley winger Oliver Snowden was rewarded with the final converted try to round off one of his side’s best performances in a long time.

Next week, Keighley will look to make it three league wins from three as they travel to Leodiensians.