Milford Marlins u-12s 34 Keighley Albion u-12s 10

ALBION came down to earth with a real bump against opponents they had dispatched comfortably only two weeks previously.

A knock-on saw Milford’s outstanding loose forward score off the back of a scrum. Albion did get a foothold when Riley Corby superbly bust the line and his 60-metre run was halted just short of the line. The hosts' reprieve was short-lived when Ben McParland crashed over on the next play.

But the visitors pressed the self-destruct button when, off an attacking scrum, a pass was intercepted again by Milford’s loose forward, who cantered over to leave his side 12-4 up at half-time.

Albion had to play the second half without Corby or McParland, who sustained match-ending injuries, and it did not look promising when Milford’s star player completed his hat-trick.

Credit to Keighley, however, when their best passage of play saw them get close to the posts before Lewis Bloodworth wrestled his way over through four would-be tacklers, leaving Caleb McConville a simple conversion.

More poor play from the kick-off practically put the game out of reach when Milford scored a converted try and Albion capitulated, allowing the hosts to add another two scores with their loose forward adding his fourth and creating the last.

Reece Smollen was given the opposition man of the match for his never-say-die attitude and constant probing but Albion will need to write this off as a bad day at the office, particularly from a defensive aspect.

They will need to vastly improve for the visit of runaway league leaders West Leeds in two weeks’ time.

Sheffield Hillsborough Hawks u-14s 40 Keighley Albion u-14s 12

Albion turned in a below-par performance in which they could find little consolation.

In a nightmare start they trailed by 18 points after only 15 minutes. Joel Livock capitalised on Hawks' uncertainty in their own in-goal area to narrow the gap at half-time, but Albion were unable to build on this.

The home side dominated the second half and it was not until the final moments that Edward Croft collected a loose ball to cross the line unchallenged for Albion’s only other try.

Keighley even lost a player to a first half sin-binning and, in a game that gave little cheer, match awards went to George Georgallis (2) and Croft.