Keighley Albion 7 Queensbury 0 - Keighley Albion shot to the top of the Pennine Premier Division after a superb victory against this seasons beaten Yorkshire Cup finalists Queensbury.

Albion who are the first Keighley side ever to head up the top flight did so in impressive fashion in front of ex Cougar favourite Brendan Hill who had travelled the short distance to support his home town club.

Queensbury put the home side under pressure from the outset with some testing high balls but Albion full back and man of the match Richard Broughton was more than up to the task and fielded with confidence everything they could throw at him.

With Broughton having the ability to turn defence into attack Albion were soon wreaking havoc with the Queensbury back line and an early indiscretion led to an Alan Muff penalty giving Keighley a slender 2 point advantage.

Further pressure from the strong running of forwards Wrench, Mount and Dooling kept the visitors camped deep in their own territory and a smart pass from John Gwilliam saw centre Morgan Bailey force his way over for a well deserved try.

Albion maintained much of the territorial advantage and an astute drop goal from the ever-improving Muff gave them a 7-0 half time lead.

The second half saw the Albion defence dig in deep and the Queensbury attack was stifled at every available opportunity with Bailey, Marsden and Bellamy putting in some sterling work.

Further forrays into the Queensbury half saw try scoring chances for Muff and Boocock but both players were held short by a scrambling defence.

Former Cougar Stuart Calvert was impressive for the visitors but with the Keighley defence in no mood to capitulate Albion ground out yet another well earned and hard fought victory.

Much praise must go to the team spirit and resolve of a side who have let in only 6 points in their last 3 games.

This Saturday Albion travel to Drighlington who will be looking to reverse their recent heavy defeat at Highfirld.

Liversedge 8

Silsden Park Rangers 10

Silsden Park Rangers travelled to Liversedge searching for some form. Boosted by the return from injury of a number of players Silsden looked confident from the start and the Liversedge pack were finding it difficult to make ground in the face of some stern defence.

With the ball in hand Rangers were making big yards pushing the home side back deep into their half of the field. Liversedge were left to feed on scraps only moving forward through a favourable penalty count.

After fifteen minutes James Cordeux picked up a loose ball well into his own half, evaded the first defender and went on a race up the touchline only to be tackled inches from the line. From the resulting pressure Danny Horne forced his way over for the opening try. Rangers were well on top by now and on 25 minutes they scored an excellent try.

The ball was sent out to Horne who had several players running different angles for him, the pass was timed to perfection sending Neil Jordan slicing through the bamboozled defence to score under the posts. Andy Bowness added the easy kick.

Silsden continued to boss things and felt a little disappointed that the score was only 0-10 at halftime. The second half could not have started any worse than it did for rangers. Within thirty seconds Silsden were down to twelve men, Ben Woolard sin-binned for a thrown punch. Liversedge kicked the resulting penalty.

With the man advantage and numerous Silsden errors the home side began to apply pressure. Eventually Silsden's line was breached and the home team's prop just managed to squeeze over by the posts.

The kick was added and suddenly Silsden had a game on their hands with the score 8-10. Silsden's attack had fallen to pieces with too many dropped balls were putting a strain on their defence. However, when questions were asked of Silsden's defence they were answered.

Time and time again the home side were put on their backs feeling the full force of an awesome tackling display. Chris Greenwood and Dave Emmott were in the thick of the action making tackle after tackle. Silsden needed one more score to secure things and were making clear-cut chances only to see the final pass going to ground. With the clock running down Rangers defence stood firm and they held on for a much tougher victory than it should have been.

Silsden entertain top of the table side Calder Valley on Saturday.