Ilkley 12

Keighley 15

Two sparkling tries in a late fightback carried Keighley through to the third round of the National Intermediate Cup.

Both sides were often less than word perfect in this dress rehearsal for this weekend's important league meeting on the same ground, with several try scoring chances being spoiled by careless unforced errors.

A confident Ilkley side looked the stronger in the early stages and Keighley were fortunate not to slip behind when centre Andy Smith failed to convert a straight forward penalty chance after five minutes play. It was, however, Keighley who created the first real prospect of a try when wingman John Hinchliffe supported a break by Johnny Harrison but was recalled for putting a foot in touch before crossing the try line.

This prompted a spell of several minutes pressure on the Ilkley line during which Keighley spurned several good opportunities before they finally took the lead with a penalty goal by Harrison when the home midfield backs strayed off side in front of their posts.

In a rather scrappy encounter there was little to choose between the packs, but Keighley had the edge in the backs where centres Chris Dooling and Dale Towler showed some neat touches in attack and solid tackling in defence and full back Warren Knowles caused problems with his strong running from deep positions.

Poorly directly kicking, however, handed the initiative to Ilkley. After a strong touchline dash by wingman Phil Merkin had taken play to the Keighley 22 metre area, centre Smith burst through the Keighley defence on a well angled run for an excellent try when he converted himself to give the home side a four point half time lead.

Smith and Harrison each missed with penalty goal attempts early in the second half, but Ilkley extended their lead with a close range try by replacement hooker Andy Merkin as Keighley wilted in the face of some spirited work by the home forwards.

Trailing by nine points, Keighley were struggling to keep in touch, but they stormed back with commendable resilience with a fine try by Warren Knowles who finished off a sweeping attack by the backs after good line out work by second row man Duncan Walsh.

This boosted Keighley's confidence and they began to sense victory. A robust tackle by Chris Dooling set up another Keighley attack which led to John Hinchliffe squeezing in at the corner with Johnny Harrison adding a superb conversion to give his side a three point lead.

Keighley's defence were more than equal to Ilkley's final desperate attempts to win the game and deservedly it is the Visitor's name which will go into the hat for the next round draw. With a number of big hitting clubs still contesting, it is likely that the next round will be a rather sterner challenge.