Keighley 57 Skipton 7 - Saturday's derby failed to live up to the expectations of a close encounter as an under-strength Skipton side had little answer to Keighley's all round superiority.

The home side was also missing three first choice forwards, but they took complete command and ran in nine tries.

In a highly charged opening Skipton were the first to attack and a flare-up at the first line-out led to Keighley skipper Rob Riley and Skipton prop Neil King being dismissed to the sin-bin.

Fortunately Keighley, for the most part, retained their composure in the face of severe provocation. Good work by Paul Salmon and a kick to the corner by Johnny Harrison, from which a complex mid-field move led to centre Kevin Young crossing under the posts after a well angled run.

Keighley's backs played with much more assurance than in recent weeks, centre John Hinchliffe re-capturing his early season form with some elusive running, and wingers Matthew Cox and Nigel Curr showing real pace. As usual, however, the forwards took the steam out of the opposition with some solid work in the loose, and whilst visiting skipper Adam Oldfield was condemned to the bin, an unstoppable drive to the line allowed No. 8 Peter Schofield to pick up and dive over to add another try to his impressive season's tally.

Briefly Skipton responded, good forward play setting up a scrum on the Keighley 22 metre line from which centre Frank Walker, easily the visitors' most influential player, switched direction to touch down between the posts with full back Gerry Corrigan converting.

Any hopes that they were to mount a sustained challenge were quickly dispelled when a nicely weighted kick by John Hinchliffe fell into the path of Matthew Cox who picked up brilliantly at pace before wrong footing the defence with a neat side step and touching down in the corner.

The writing was now clearly on the wall for the feisty Skipton side. Any advantage they might have gained from the sending off of Keighley prop Andy Webb for retaliation after a high tackle, was cancelled out by a second 10-minute dismissal for prop Neil King who was later followed by hooker Robbie King as referee Ron Needham struggled to maintain control.

In the meantime Keighley made light of their problems by adding two more tries both from full back Carl Smith. He celebrated his return to fitness firstly by scuttling through a flat footed defence on a 30 metre run to the line and then was on hand to touch down after supporting a break by Kevin Young. With Johnny Harrison hitting the target from all ranges and angles, Keighley held an insurmountable 35-7 lead at the break.

An exciting move by the confident Keighley backs early in the second half was finished off in style by Nigel Curr and this was soon followed by a second try by Matthew Cox who took full advantage of a kick ahead by scrum half Scott Amos.

As the game entered the final quarter referee Needham was busy again, this time sending Keighley replacement back Warren Knowles for a rest after a minor dust up before he had had a chance to dirty his knees. Undeterred Keighley struck again when good work by Cox and Smith ended with flanker Mark Lister taking the scoring pass and pushing the tally beyond the 50-point mark. There was still time for a final try by Paul Salmon who touched down after a determined run by Peter Schofield.

Keighley's all round impressive performance took them another step towards promotion. They still have to face the second and third placed sides away from home and there is therefore little room for a slip up. In addition they have problems in the front row where they are presently without the services of props Paul Sinfield (work), John Duffy (injury) and Andy Webb (facing suspension).

Coach Tim Brunskill remains confident however that his young squad will be able to complete the task. Certainly if team spirit and fitness are factors his confidence is far from misplaced.