Keighley lose to Pocklington as title hopes in tatters

And they lost again, going down 24-19 in East Yorkshire as their title hopes appear to be slipping away.

Pocklington made good use of the ball early on and their left winger chipped through for his scrum half to score after only three minutes, the conversion giving the hosts a 7-0 lead.

Fly half Fin Meegan was standing in for regular 10 Alex Brown, and he missed two penalty attempts, including one that hit the uprights, as Keighley struggled to get on the scoreboard.

The absence of Alex Brown was keenly felt by Keighley. (Image: John Ashton.)

Keighley enjoyed plenty of possession but Pocklington’s last line of defence held strong, helped by a couple of handling errors from the visitors.

On 20 minutes, a Keighley scrum on the half way line secured the ball but the pass to fly half Meegan was knocked on.

That allowed the hosts to take possession and worked their way up the field.

After winning a penalty close in, they drove over for their second converted try to go 14-0 up.

Captain Alfie Seeley almost engineered the breakthrough for Keighley, but he put the final pass behind his winger Stead and into touch.

However, they were on the board moments later, when a superb back row move took the ball to winger Sam Blakeley who scored an excellent try in the right corner on 30 minutes.

But Ben Stead, now on kicking duties, narrowly missed the conversion attempt.

Pocklington wasted a good chance after a penalty had brought them an attacking line out and Keighley soon got back on the attack.

In a desperate attempt to stop the visitors, the home outside centre picked up a yellow card for dangerous play.

Keighley quickly took advantage from the resulting line out, as after a couple of powerful forward drives, a superb short pass from Sean Kelly found Taylor Prell who powered through the Pocklington defence to score under the posts.

The prolific Taylor Prell got the plaudits for yet another try, but this one came in a losing cause. (Image: John Ashton.)

Stead converted to leave his side just two points behind and after a brilliant last-ditch tackle stopped Pocklington scoring in the left corner, the hosts only led 14-12 at the break.

The second half was a battle of attrition, with Stead missing the chance to edge them in front when he slid a penalty fractionally wide.

A high tackle by Kelly saw him sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes and after wasting that advantage initially, Pocklington finally broke through against the 14 men.

Playing with a penalty advantage, Pocklington executed a fine back row move, resulting in a try in the right hand corner, superbly converted from the touchline for a 21-12 lead.

Pocklington won a penalty after a sloppy Keighley restart, but the kick for goal drifted to the left of the posts.

Seeley prevented a further score from a chip over the defensive line as Keighley were clinging on, with only some outstanding defence keeping the home team at bay.

Keighley brought on experienced utility player Lucas Uren and centre Jak Adams midway through the half, with Stead moving to 10, and Keighley upped their game back with their full complement.

The versatile Ben Stead shone at fly half on Saturday, but the Keighley comeback came too late. (Image: John Ashton.)

A knock on close to the line stopped Pocklington from adding to their lead, but then an obstruction offence gifted them an easy penalty, as they moved 24-12 in front.

Keighley came back at their hosts and after a period of pressure the ball reached Uren on the left wing who evaded the final defender to score Keighley’s third try.

Stead’s outstanding conversion from the touchline wrapped up the scoring, as Keighley at least earned a losing bonus point.

This Saturday, Keighley entertain Wath Upon Dearne at Rose Cottage and will hope to get back to winning ways.

REPORT BY TONY BURNS