3rd placed Keighley visited The Jim Saynor Ground to post the half way point of the league season. With a number of injuries and 2 players on 1st team debut The Pythons were confident they would compete against the fancied Keighley side.
Ollie Ward opened his account with a penalty straight from the kick off, 3-0. Keighley were quickly back on the offensive using their well drilled back line to score in the corner, 3-7. Peter Millward, returning from long term injury, turned the ball over in mid field and Andrew MacKay returning to scrum half was quick to get his backline showing their paces. Support from prop Luke Korba takes play into The Keighley 22 but an off side allows them to clear their lines. A successful line out makes the home defence work hard with Ward and Ben Pryor tackling hard in the centres. Camped on the line for several phases a gap at the breakdown is spotted by the away flanker, 3-12 on 25 mins.
Points from the re start again as Hugh Tatlow recovers his own charge down on the 22 and races over under the posts, 10-12. Keighley cross the whitewash once again to make the half time score 10-17.
The Pythons defence was needed again early in the 2nd half as the big Keighley pack pressured the home line. Will Milnes, Rhys Cory and George Booth kept the persistent forward attack at bay. The Pythons pack gained the advantage in the set scrums and were able to clear their lines. A penalty on the home 22 line and Keighley acknowledge the solid home defence by taking a shot at goal, 10-20. Ratu Tabewalu on debut made an impact coming on at 8 and combining well with the home runners Tatlow, Millward and Cory. Keighley began to turn the pressure on and were able to capitalise on two defence errors to leave the final score 10-37.
After the game, Coach MacKay said,” Once again the Pythons took the field with a number of changes and debuts. The first half was competitive against a big side but the game never really flowed as the sound of the whistle punctuated the game on a regular basis. Unfortunately much of the same in the second half but this time with four injuries which really affected the overall outcome. I have to say the score line did not reflect the efforts of the team. Although the side lost all the players put in a massive shift and with a little more consistency could have run the opposition a lot closer. “
The Pythons stand 7th in the league at the half way point and travel to Old Rishworthian with their sights on repeating the victory earlier in the season.
The Whittaker’s Gin man of the match was awarded by former Coach Dan Bird to Hugh Tatlow.
