Keighley Albion 16

Normanton Knights 14

Keighley Albion collected their second league win of the season with a superb performance that lifts them off the bottom of the Conference League.

The inspiration behind the 2win came from veteran halfback Paul Moses as he made his full debut in the National League. The former Halifax and Cougar star was at the heart of everything, directing operations with perfectly timed passes and constantly prising holes in the Normanton defence.

An early try by the visitors warned Albion that they were going to have to work hard if they were going to have any chance of taking revenge for their early season defeat at Normanton.

Two Simon Kelk penalties and one from the visitors kept the scoreline close as both sides struggled to control the ball in the early exchanges.

Good pressure from Albion took them deep into the Normanton half, they quickly moved the ball across field and Moses sent a 20-yard pass out to the strong running Wayne Smith, who charged over to give his side the lead. Kelk added the conversion to put Albion 10-6 ahead at the break.

An early second half try levelled the scores for the visitors, but Albion continued to make good ground up the slope with Matt Horne, Gary Boocock and John Williams making telling runs. A Paul Moses drop goal saw Albion take the lead, but this was short lived as the Knights crossed for their third try with 10 minutes remaining.

Albion refused to lie down and continued to take the game to the opposition. Craig Livock broke through the visitors line to gallop 50 yards only to be hauled down short of the try line. They kept up the pressure with Dean Brooks switching the play to Moses who put man of the match Smith over for his second try.

Moses deservedly had the last word with another drop goal that secured the game and gave the Keighley sides two valuable points.

Coach Gary Moorby said: "We needed this win and credit must go to all the players who showed a lot of character to come from behind. Paul Moses gave us the direction we have been lacking and his distribution was superb with the likes of Wayne Smith and Craig Livock running off him tremendously."

Silsden Park Rangers 16

Elland 58

Third Division Silsden Park Rangers bowed out of the Halifax Cup at the first round stage, but not without giving Premier League Elland an early scare.

Tight defence and some fine attacking rugby saw Rangers hold their high-flying visitors 12-12 after 30 minutes, but then Elland took control following the introduction of their ex-Leeds forward John Fairbank.

The signs were ominous when Elland took an early 6-0 lead but Rangers hit back quickly with a superb try. Minutes earlier Alan Preston had gone close following neat interplay between Dave Arnold and Paul Sinfield, and when Man of the Match Arnold burst out of dummy half again Sinfield was there in support to charge in from 30 yards. Mark Adams converted to make it 76-6 and he was responsible for Silsden equalising again, after Elland had gone 12-6 ahead.

Stand-off Pat Illingworth made inroads after Mark Claydon had broken down the right, and when Illingworth popped the ball to Adams the big Centre showed good pace and awareness, to chip over the defence and win the race to touchdown.

Following Fairbank's appearance Elland scored four tries either side of half time to seal the tie, but Rangers kept battling on. Phil Lane and Tony Williams regularly caused problems with their direct running and prop Jim Coldwell never took a backward step. Andy Bowness made a promising full debut at scrum half, while skipper Neil Jordan worked overtime, especially in defence.

Despite leaking tries at regular intervals, the Cobbydalers gained just reward for their second half efforts when Rob Leighton powered over in the corner, following crisp handling from Bowness, Tobi Hooper and Mark Kent.

Despite the heavy defeat Silsden's younger players will learn considerably from this game and they hope to put the experience to good use at home to table topping Emley Moor tomorrow (Saturday), kick off 2.00 pm

Keighley Celtic 32

Halifax Irish 18

Keighley Celtic played with real guts to beat Halifax Irish in their Halifax and District Cup tie.

The Keighley side got off to their usual slow start and soon found themselves 10 points down in as many minutes. Half backs Chris Brookes and Neil Kennedy took control and began to run at the heart of the Irish defence, leading to tries for Marples and Kennnedy which were both converted by Brookes, to give a 12-10 lead.

The second half saw forwards Naheem Anwar and Gus Egan dominate, laying the platform for Gary Marples to add his second try of the afternoon.

Halifax Irish never gave up and were rewarded with a converted try to level the match with minutes remaining. Great Celtic defensive pressure caused errors from the Irish in their own 20 metre area which led to Celtic wrapping the match up with two late tries from Anwar and Paddy Martin, both converted by Kennedy.

Gus Egan was presented the the Halifax and District Man of the Match award by referee Martin Couch after the match.

Park Amateurs 66 Keighley Albion 'A' 6

The Keighley Albion second string knew that this visit to the side which is currently top of the Pennine League Premier Division would be a near impossible task and so it proved. The Halifax side took an early lead and regularly ran in tries throughout both halves despite valiant efforts in defence and attack, especially from captain Danny Seaton and centre Neil Earnshaw. The only Keighley scores both came from Danny Bowness, the first a penalty conversion after 20 minutes of play and later forcing his way over at play the ball in the second half.

Despite the high scoreline Albion can take heart from their display against one of the best sides in the Pennine League and will have learnt from this for the future.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.