LOCAL
KEIGHLEY
THIRDS 10 – 5 SKIPTON THIRDS
Much
to the surprise of the Skipton players who would've opened their curtains to
see snow-covered landscapes, conditions just down the road in Utley were
entirely different, meaning the game took place, unlike the 1st and 2nd XV
fixtures.
Buoyed by last week's impressive victory over Heath 3rds, Skipton started well
with strong runs from Andy Whitley and Steven Marks. Prop Rob Morgan was
somehow held up over the line but then the Reds took the lead. Number 8 Whitley
picked up off the back of the scrum, drove through three defenders and scrum
half Ben Oldfield was in support and on hand to receive the pass and power over
the line. In tricky conditions for kickers, Mark Harrison just missed
with the conversion.
It wasn't long before the home side equalised though. After having a bit of
success with kicks over the Skipton wingers, one such kick saw Martin Uren
shrug off Dave Mitton and just beat full back Matthew Cox to ground the ball over
the try line. Again the conversion was missed to leave the scores tied at
5-5 at the interval.
The second half was just as evenly matched. Fly half Adam Clarke had a hand in
most of Skipton's brighter moments and forwards Richard Tordoff and Gary Marlow
both put in great performances. Marlow deserves credit for some superb
line out jumping. Just as the game seemed to be petering out to a draw,
Keighley's Bob Whitehead pounced for the decisive try.