Keighley 0 Sandal 0
In an almost unique occurrence Sandal and Keighley played out a scoreless draw in the Aire Valley in weather conditions more suited to staying indoors in front of a warm fire than venturing out and running around in a pair of shorts for eighty minutes. Indeed for the majority of the second half it was almost impossible to hold onto the ball never mind attempt to move it from one player to another and with the home side fighting for their Yorkshire One league survival and the draw having no real impact on Sandal's promotion aspirations both sides were ultimately content to settle for the draw. In spite of the scoreline the match was far from lacking in moments of excitement or quality with both sides missing penalty kicks in the first half. With Sandal breaking from deep twice and winger Simon Frewin in particular looking dangerous whenever in possession and the home side close to breaking through on the stroke of half time it was a brave man who would have predicted the same score at full time.
The weather across the valley, though, changed during the half time break with the wind, rain and hail making it almost impossible for the viewing spectators never mind the players. Sandal, playing with the conditions in the second period, totally dominated territory but Keighley defended superbly to the extent that apart from on two occasions their line was not seriously threatened. When the conditions abated briefly the resilient home side broke out of defence and threatened on the Sandal twenty two metre line but consecutive infringements at the ruck saw them back in their own half and no-one watching could begrudge them their celebrations as the final whistle sounded.
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