Keighley start well to beat Wensleydale in Yorkshire One

Wensleydale started the stronger with good territorial advantage but a series of handling errors and poor passes kept them away from the Keighley line.

Instead, it was Keighley who had the first big chance, only for Alex Brown to miss his close-range penalty attempt.

They were then controversially denied when centre Adam Horsfall was held up just short of the line, but rolled out of the tackle and appeared to have scored.

The referee ruled the tackle was completed by Wensleydale and no try was given.

Keighley opened the scoring when a powerful drive from Sam Booker, which was recycled from the breakdown to his fellow prop Andy Heys.

He made a superb midfield break before feeding Jordan Yaxley, who made good ground before offloading to Horsfall.

The veteran would not be denied this time, and left three defenders in his wake as he scored a superb team try to the right of the posts, which was converted by Brown.

Almost straight from the restart, the home full back attempted a risky cross-field kick, which was superbly taken by Keighley winger Sam Blakeley.

He made good ground before his inside pass from the tackle found Taylor Prell, who raced away to score Keighley’s second try, the conversion being missed by Brown.

Heys then suffered what appeared to be a serious neck or back injury during a scrum.

Due to the potential danger of moving the injured Heys before an ambulance arrived, play switched to Wensleydale’s upper pitch for the remainder of the game.

The game restarted with Wensleydale on the attack, but they could find no way through a committed Keighley defence, despite a series of penalties against the visitors.

Finally the home half backs chose to move the ball wide out to the left but the final pass was intercepted by Keighley captain and full back Alfie Seeley.

He raced 70 yards before offloading to Blakeley to score in the corner, with the try superbly converted by Brown off the left-hand post.

Within two minutes of the restart, Keighley secured their four-try bonus point.

From a midfield scrum, the ball reached Prell, who broke through the initial two tackles before accelerating away from the defence to score a superb solo effort under the posts.

Taylor Prell scored twice as Keighley dominated the first half at Wensleydale. (Image: John Ashton.)

Brown knocked over the simple conversion to give Keighley a 26-0 lead at the break, but to Wensleydale’s credit, they refused to roll over thereafter.

Although the visitors had plenty of possession and territorial advantage early in the second period, they could not add to their points tally and a series of errors and penalties allowed the hosts to take play back into their opponent’s territory.

From a Keighley scrum on their own 22, they were penalised, and from the quick tap and go Wensleydale crossed the line for a try, despite the ball carrier appearing to lose possession before grounding the ball for a converted score.

Keighley conceded yet more penalties after the restart to lose any territorial advantage, while Wensleydale’s set piece was working well and they were improving in all areas.

The game was delayed for a few minutes after an ankle injury to a Wensleydale player however, they upped their game from the restart.

An excellent move down the right channel eventually saw the ball returning to the left where a series of strong forward drives took the ball to the Keighley line.

The ball appeared to be short and then chaos ensued, as Keighley No.8 Tom Whyte was yellow carded for an infringement.

Wensleydale set themselves to take the five-metre penalty, but the referee deemed that the hosts had made it over the line, and the subsequent conversion left them just 12 points behind.

Soon after the restart, Seeley was obstructed chasing his own kick, resulting in a penalty which was scored by replacement fly half Fin Meegan.

With eight minutes remaining Keighley held a 15-point lead and despite further pressure from their hosts, they held on to their advantage to claim a win which takes them into second place in Counties One Yorkshire.

They trail leaders North Ribblesdale by two points, who they face at home in a few weeks.

There was further good news later in the day regarding Heys, who was released from hospital with no lasting damage to his back or neck.

He will however sit out the next few weeks to recover, and Keighley will hope his absence is not too costly.

This Saturday, Keighley entertain West Leeds, who have lost their five opening games.

REPORT BY TONY BURNS