North Ribblesdale 15 Keighley 32

NORTH Ribblesdale full back Jonathan Richards sustained a suspected broken leg as his side contributed to their own downfall.

They missed five kicks at goal when Keighley conceded a stream of penalties and turned over a large amount of hard-won possession.

The failure to retain the ball led to the visitors counter attacking from deep twice late in the game after Richards had left the field.

An indication of what was to come surfaced right at the start. Andrew Thwaite fielded the kick and made ground to the halfway line before being stripped of the ball.

Keighley turned defence into attack with quick accurate passing put winger Jack Atkinson in wide out for the game's first try.

Ribb didn't learn from their error and the second try came after they coughed up possession. Will Booth, who had a good game at lock, penetrated into the Keighley 22 before losing the ball in contact.

The visitors took play to the other end where they kicked a penalty to the corner and created a try for Liam Everett after winning the line-out.

Ribb enjoyed a good spell of possession based on their scrum dominance. Keighley were under pressure and conceded two penalties. Both were easy kicks that Ribb missed.

Eventually they opened their account when Richards came into the line at pace after a break from Graham Pettiford. The conversion was missed but Richards landed a penalty soon after to reduce the deficit to two points.

Keighley sprang into life after a subdued period and a determined drive from a line-out brought them their third try by Shaun Minikin.

Ribb started the second half strongly as they put Keighley under severe pressure in the scrum. They secured three consecutive scrum penalties, the last on the Keighley line. When Ribb opted for another scrum the visitors conceded a penalty try which Richards converted.

Keighley changed their tactics and started to spin the ball wide. This kept the Ribb cover defence busy but they held the line.

Ribb slowly got back into the game but in an effort to keep the ball tight they overdid the forward carry and lost possession on several occasions.

The turning point came when Ribb were dispossessed in midfield with Ben Blackwell going over after 65 minutes for another converted try which made it 25-15.

Keighley missed another kick at goal while the loss of Richards meant their attempts to run the ball lacked penetration.

Late in the game, a lack of awareness allowed Everett to get his second try which earned Keighley a late bonus point.

This was a much better performance from Ribb but they must learn not to overdo the forward drive. They tend to run out of numbers and are often left with a sole runner who either loses the ball or gives away a penalty for hanging on.

A far better performance for Ribb with some good back play by both sides, Keighley were good value for their win but