It was a cold, blustery and at times rainy day at Keighley, but the hospitality at this club was excellent.
Driffield played the same back line that was selected last week, but in the forwards Tatham-Brugh and Whitfield were missing from the front row and Llewellyn and Havler came in. Sadler, Hamilton and Mitchell-Williams made up the bench as the rest of the pack were unchanged.
Driffield made their usual hesitant start and for the first 10 minutes could not get out of their own half. This was reversed and they started to play a better territory game.
The driving and tackling from both sets of forwards was fierce, this being affected by the weather which was not conducive to open three-quarter play.
As the half went on Driffield started to put more pressure on the home side, which was rewarded with two penalty attempts by Kitching, which unfortunately were missed.
Two strong runs by wingers McClarron and Furbank gave Driffield hope, but generally it settled into a forward dominated game which the weather dictated.
Driffield were awarded a penalty, but back chat to the referee caused the decision to be reversed. Soon after Keighley’s Walker made a strong run, and Driffield gave away a penalty which was kicked by fly half Brown for offside in the centre. K 3 – D 0.
This was the halftime score line, but hope was raised within the Driffield supporters as a revival seemed on the cards. The forwards were driving well if too predictably, and territory was being achieved, but no score came in spite of the forward’s efforts. The half back combination at times looked shaky with too many passes going adrift.
The second half started and continued with constant pressure in the Keighley half. For 15 minutes, it looked as though the vital try might be achieved, but Keighley with stout tackling thwarted these efforts, and bad discipline was entering into Driffield’s play. Twice more the referee’s decisions were queried and the mark was advanced by 10 metres. This was foolish behaviour, and from one of these errors, Keighley were able to raise the siege and procure a good attacking position.
A good drive was followed by a quick movement of the ball by the Keighley threes. Bulky centre Ferrazzano barged through tackles and scored a try under the Driffield posts for Brown to convert.
This good try seemed to be against the run of play, but was reward for strong running and taking chances that occurred because of Driffield’s ill discipline. K 10 – D 0.
This score had the effect of dampening Driffield’s resolve and boosting Keighley’s. From the situation that it looked Driffield would win the game, it had turned round that Keighley were the likely winners. They stayed the final short period of the game in Driff’s half and kicked sensibly for the corners. Many chances seemed to have been frittered away by Driffield, when you consider the amount of possession they achieved and pressure they placed on the Keighley defence earlier in the half.
Driffield can have no complaints concerning the result, for they seemed to have the rub of the green with regard to the referee’s decisions, but you cannot expect to win games if you complain to the referee and then forfeit distance or have his decision reversed.
There were some good performances, Boreman was able to obtain good front ball in the lineout. Turton and Reilly showed up well in the loose, and Beachell has plenty of heart, but his runs became very predictable to the opposition. I suppose considering the weather conditions, the game plan was understandable, but it bore no fruit.
It was noticeable that Keighley had the more penetrative back runners and this eventually won them the game. With the English winter climate, you cannot expect to have good handling conditions every Saturday.