Keighley tripped up

Salford 19 Keighley 6

Salford added the Divisional Premiership at Old Trafford to the First Division Championship yesterday, but Keighley can justly claim to have been beaten as much by refereeing decisions as by their opponents, writes Dave Hadfield.

The turning point of a tight and often dour match came midway through the second half, with Salford 8-6 ahead. It was then that their experienced full-back Steve Hampson hacked down the Keighley captain, Daryl Powell, with less of a trip than a two-footed football tackle.

This is one of the areas in which a referee is supposed to have no discretion. Tripping leads to a sending-off, and no arguments, except that on this occasion Stuart Cummings, arguably the country's leading referee, chose instead to take the soft option by merely placing Hampson on report. In a game as evenly poised as this, it was a rule that was as crucial as it was inexplicable.

Only 10 minutes later Hampson was one of a gaggle of Salford tacklers who forced Mark Milner into touch at the corner to deny Keighley a try that would have put them back in front.

Almost directly from that escape, Salford went on the attack, and when Mark Lee's kick came back to them off a Keighley foot, Scott Naylor went over for a try that for the first time put them in a winning position.

Steve Blakeley's third goal of the match, followed by an opportunist drop goal, gave Salford a nine-point lead and when Keighley finally ran out of steam, Naylor charged over from Lee's pass in injury time.

It was rough justice for Keighley, who had outplayed Salford in the first half. They had taken the lead when Naylor went high in a tackle of Sonny Whakarau, Simon Irving landing the penalty goal. Keighley then rocked their opponents, who had beaten them twice in the First Division during the season, when Phil Cantillon sped 40 yards from acting half-back for the first try of the game.

But the game's first turning point came after 32 minutes when Powell was sin-binned for holding down the Salford substitute Craig Randall at the play-the-ball. No doubt that was a correct decision in isolation, but it was made nonsensical by the mercy extended to Hampson in the second half.

Blakeley kicked the penalty awarded for the offence and then, three minutes before half-time, Cliff Eccles, got a pass away to Randall, who did equally well to slip to Blakeley, who raced away to score.

Keighley looked capable of snatching the game back until Salford's late flurry of points. Even then, it took a brave tackle from Fata Sini to keep out Critchley, but the key battle was the unorthodox one that Hampson got away with.

"The referee gave the decision as he saw it," said the Keighley coach, Phil Larder, in charge of the side for the last time.

Salford now face the task of strengthening sufficiently for Super League, with the replacement of Sam Panapa at loose forward their most pressing priority.

Salford: Hampson; Sini, Naylor, McAvoy, Rodgers; Blakley, Lee; Balese, Edwards, Eccles, Forber, Savelio, Panapa. Substitutes used: Watson, Martin, Burgess, Randall.

Keighley: Dixon; Wray, Milner, Irving, Critchley; Powell, Robinson; Parsons, Cantillon, Hall, Fleary, Whakarau, Wood. Substitutes used: Tawhai, Doorey, Ramshaw, Larder.

Referee: S Cummings (Widnes).