Match report Sunday 14th February Friendly
Rishworthians extended their winning run to five games running in seven tries against Keighley. With the half term break starting several players were unavailable which led to the usual last minute reshuffle of the team with Jake Sturman and Joe Garside moving from the their preferred positions as back rowers to 9 and 10 respectively, both had an excellent game in these position. There was also an impressive debut for Rob Varela who ran in 3 tries.

The game started with Rishworthians in charge in the opening minutes and Rob Varela was soon in the thick of the action with two crunching tackles which were both appreciated from the sidelines. Rishworthians were running the ball well and making good yardage with each pick up and drive. Rob Varela, Daniel Cooper, Richard Bullough and James Radcliffe in the forwards in particular were running well and Tom Hammond and Alex Ratcliffe were receiving a plentiful supply of ball from the new half back partnership of Jake Sturman and Joe Garside like they had played there all their lives.

With all the possession it was a question of time when a score would come. It was new boy Rob Varela who scored first with a great run which included the best hand off seen at Hollis Lane. Joe Garside converted.

Keighley started to settle and their scrum and rucking occasionally caused Rishworthians problems however it often led to frustration to see their player taking the ball in was either stripped of the ball or a scrum resulted. Tom Hammond had a great drive down the centre but lost the ball just short of the line with four Keighley players on his back. Rishworthians extended their lead, good team work drove the ball forward and recycled a couple of time before Bullough spotted a gap and once in space there was no stopping him. Joe Garside added the conversion.

Whilst Keighley were causing problems they were unable to create many chances and did not threaten the Rishworthian line and it was on one of the rare visits into the Rishworthians half that led to the next try. The ball was knock forward Varela was able to gather, break a couple of tackles and sprint 50 metres for his second try again Garside adding the extra points. Rishworthians were now in control and were playing some excellent rugby with both backs and forwards being involved.

Half time score Rishworthians 21 - 0 Keighley

The second half continued with Rishworthians still dominating much of the play however Keighley were beginning to get more of the ball and on a number of occasion the home side were penalised for high tackles giving Keighley the all the encouragement they needed and they kept on running all day. However Rishworthians came back into the game when the forward produced good turnover ball and half backs Sturman and Garside fed quick ball to Tom Hammond to burst through his markers and score after another great run. Garside converting. Rishworthians line outs were working well with Bullough winning is line out ball. The next try came from another typical series of forward pick up and drives and again Bullough picked up and went on one of his trade mark bulldozing runs to score. Garside's conversion attempt was charged down.

Keighley's first points in the game came after a Rishworthians attack faltered and Keighley broke away to score a fine try. Rishworthians were still playing well with both forward and back linking well and the ball being past down the backs line instead of the player getting isolated and going to ground with the ball in hand. Another good forward surge saw Bullough pick up and drive for the line and off loading to Elliot Craven to dive over for well work try. Garside narrowly missed the conversion.

Prop Cooper then took this passing game to heart, after a nice break and with nobody to beat his pass to Elliot was knocked on. It might have been the 40 metres that he still had to run that made the decision for him to pass!!. Sturman continued to play well at scrum half and was always keen to run the ball and always had the option to use his forwards well with Josh Gledhill and Harvey Keighley-Payne in support. Centres Ratcliffe and Hammond were always keen to run with the ball and winger Ben Coup was always up in support, Ben also made a couple good tackles on his opposite number.

Rishworthians final try came from a series of forward drives and Rob Varela capped a fine debut with his third try brushing past his markers to score. Garside adding the conversion. Keighley came back into the game towards the end and added a second try. The game ended a few minutes early with an injury to a Keighley player, who was taken to hospital with an injury to his ankle. Hope it not to serious.

Full time Rishworthians 45 - 10 Keighley

Man of the Match : Rob Varela
Effort award Jake Sturman

Click here to view Keighley website

Team
	1. J Radcliffe	2. K Jamieson	3. D Cooper
6. Craven T				7. Varela T3
	4. Bullough T2		5. Gledhill
		8. H Keighley-Payne
9. J Sturman
	10. J Garside C5
		12. T Hammond T
			13. Ratcliffe
11. Coup				14.
		15.
Subs