» March 11th 2001
» Town 4:32 Keighley Cougars

Town were well beaten by a more determined Cougars outfit that made better use of the bad conditions using their superior tactical kicking, short inside passing to create the gaps and ultimately the two points.

The weather conditions would be an important factor in this match and the early exchanges saw both sides knock on early in the tackle count when they had possession.

Town enjoyed the early possession and kept the Cougars pinned inside their own half for the best part of twenty minutes, but Town were unable to make this possession and field advantage count.

The Town kicking for advantage was dealt with simplistic ease by the Cougars defence. Town never seemed to find the gaps.

Whenever Town seemed to have the advantage they seemed to spill the ball in the tackle or knock-on. The conditions did not help, but both sides were facing the same elements and the visitors made the better of the chances that were offered to them.

On 16 minutes Town found themselves under pressure. A Keighley tactical kick found touch and Town had the scrum inside their own twenty. From the scrum the ball came to Graeme Lewthwaite who launched a kick from the first tackle that bounced off a cougar defender, but unnoticed by the referee John Allen was wiped out off the ball. Town had lost the advantage and would have to defend from well inside their own half. Defend they did and they soaked up the pressure and regained the possession.

A penalty for offside would further increase the Town advantage, but the kick did not find touch and the Cougars were back on the attack. The Cougars did not retain possession for long after they spilled the ball from the resulting tackle. Town were back in the driving seat and four good drives saw the go over the half-way line and Tane Manihera launched a deep high kick. The Town chase was good and the Cougars were again pinned in their own twenty.

When in possession, both teams played for field advantage. Neither team seemed able to make the vital breakthrough.

The Cougars were starting to gain the advantage and good sets of six saw the deep in Town territory. Twice in quick succession the kick troughs from Martin Wood had to be dealt with. The results of this saw Town having to drop out from under their own posts. On the second occasion Martin Wood collected the ball and created the gap for Ian Hughes to power into the gap evading the attention of the Town would be tacklers. Martin Wood added the conversion to put Keighley into a 6 - 0 lead.

It was not long before Keighley extended their lead. On 28 minutes after a good set of six the from the Cougars they launched the high kick which was collected by Jamie Smith who spilled the ball. From the resulting scrum James Rushforth ran the angle and easily split the defence to score. Martin Wood missed with the conversion attempt to keep the scores at 0 - 10 in favour of the Cougars.

Carl Sice was to retire injured from the match on 32 minutes. In the process of tackling a Keighley player he went down clutching his ankle (word from his dad after the match says it is only a bad twist or sprain). The loss of Sice would mean a lot of Town creativity had gone.

On 33 minutes Town wasted an opportunity. Martin Wood was set for a high kick, but Tane Manihera had read the play and positioned well. Tane was able to charge down the kick and chased the loose ball and dribbled it past the first defender and kicked for the line. The Keighley defence beat Tane to the line and dropped onto the ball in the in-goal area. From the resulting dropout Town had possession, but handling errors again gave the ball back to the visitors.

The next exchanges again saw both sides wasting the possession, but most of these handling errors can be put down to the worsening weather conditions (Heavy driving rain).

On 38 minutes Town again found themselves under pressure inside their own half. Keighley passed the ball wide and an attempted interception from a Town player went to ground. From the scrum a kick over the top was attempted, Jamie Smith was in the defensive line and out of position. James Rushforth was first to react and won the chase and dropped onto the ball close to the posts. Martin Wood successfully kicked the conversion to give Keighley a 16 - 0 halftime lead.

The second half saw Keighley again take the early advantage. On their first attack they played out the set of six and deep into the Town half they attempted a grubber kick. The kick bounced of a Town defender and back into the hands of the Cougars attack. The referee wiped out the tackle count. Keighley passed the ball and Danny Seal collected and went to score easily close to the posts. Martin Wood kicked the conversion to extend the Cougars lead to 22 - 0.

Again the exchanges between the teams saw them both wasting chances. Knock on's and spilled balls were a common sight. Again it was Town who suffered the worse and had to defend well from searching kicks from the Keighley attack. Town having to knock the ball dead in-goal and having to drop out from under the posts on several occasions.

Martin Wood was again the provider on 58 minutes. Deep inside the Town half the ball was passed along the line and Martin Wood saw the gap and kicked a high kick into the defensive gap. Graeme Hallas was first under the ball and collected the kick and sprinted in under the posts unchallenged. Martin Wood easily adding the conversion to extend the Keighley lead to 28 - 0.

Town began to challenge and penetrating kicks from the Town attack forced the Keighley defence into errors. Town failed to make these errors count. Town however had a chance in the 63rd minute when Graeme Lewthwaite kicked the loose ball towards the Keighley line, but was beaten to the chase to the line. From the resulting drop out Town played out their set of six, but the kick through on the final tackle was dealt with easily by the defence.

Graeme Lewthwaite scored the only Town points of the day on 68 minutes. Town had possession and passed the ball wide to Lewthwaite. The winger collected the ball and ran down the line to score in the corner. Kevin Hetherington missed the conversion to reduce the Keighley lead to 28 - 4.

Errors from both sides were again the order of the day. Both sides wasting the advantage and opportunities.

The final score of the day was to go to Keighley. After a knock on from Town close to the half way line, Keighley from the scrum passed the ball wide and Jason Lee had the space to run into the corner from 35 metres out. The conversion attempt was missed making the final score 32 - 4 to Keighley.

Official Man of the Match sponsored by Lakeland Racing - Graeme Lewthwaite.

Tries: Graeme Lewthwaite

Town: Jamie Smith, Fata Sini, Neil Frazer, John Allen, Graeme Lewthwaite, Kevin Hetherington, Tane Manihera, Hitro Okesene, Carl Sice, Lokeni Savelio, Jamie Beaumont, Matt Sturm, Anthony Samuel

Subs: William Blackburn, Steve McGrady, Craig Rumney, Anthony Horton

Referee: Mr P. Taberner