Keighley A 25, Roundhegians 24 - A heroic defensive effort took Keighley A inot the semi-final of the Aire-Wharfe Cup.

After storming into an early lead they saw the Leeds side fight their way back

They finally went through on the 'away team' rule after 20 minutes of extra time failed to separate the sides.

The Utley side had a crucial moment of good fortune when home scrum-half hit the up-right with a relatively simple penalty in the second period of extra time, but in a game where fortunes swung dramatically, they probably earned their luck by their sheer refusal to accept defeat.

There was only a modest hint of the problems to come as Keighley hit the ground run-ning at the start of the game. They were 21-3 ahead after 27 minutes, with three smart tries, No 8 Peter Schofield driving over from a close-range scrum after seven minutes for Matt Gaffney to convert and give the side the start they needed.

Smith kicked a penalty for the home side before elusive running by fly-half Chris Mee-han brought Keighley's second, Gaffney again obliging with the conversion.

Keighley's third was a gem, Schofield again breaking from a scrum, scrum-half Martin Uren supplying the support to sus-tain the break and flanker John Gibson arriving on cue for his inside pass and a try at the posts which Gaffney goaled.

By this stage, however, there were ominous signs that the Roundhegians' pack power might eventually take its toll, two converted tries on either side of the interval by prop Andy Dawson and full-back Mike Smith, both goaled by Smith, hauling the home side back into contention at 21-17.

A Gaffney penalty gave Keighley some respite from the barrage, but relief was short-lived as Dawson crossed again from a lineout and Smith goa-led to level the scores.

Ironically, though their re-sources had been depleted by the loss prop Nigel Fitzsim-monds and an injury to his front-row colleague John Fitch, Keighley gradually managed to come to terms with the relent-less pressure, Tim Midgley winning crucial lineout posses-sion deep in Keighley territory and veteran hooker Neil Scott collecting a string of strikes against the put-in at the scrum to fuel his side's resistence.

Though the onslaught never really abated, Keighley held out defiantly to earn a home semi-final against the winners of last night's tie at Skipton, where Otley Thirds were visitors and favourites.