Apologies for not adding any blogs for a few days, with travel from France, limited availability of internet and then a health problem to contend with I haven't had chance to comment much on the RL scene until now.
Tonight's Championship game deserved a better score than the eventual 40-20 win for Halifax. For me Keighley Cougars were much closer than that and had the games outstanding player in former Fax junior Danny Jones. Not only did he continue his consecutive point scoring run to 40 games, he was also at the hub of everything for the visitors and was desperately unlucky to end on the losing side.
Keighley took the lead through Jon Presley before James Haley and the boot of Lee Paterson put Fax in front. Although Jones levelled matters for Keighley with a penalty, a two try scoring burst from the hosts saw Stanley Gene and Rob Worrincy.
Leading 16-6 at half-time Fax looked to take advantage of a mistake by Keighley from the kick-off, however it was the Cougars and Tom Burton that scored next. Sean Penkywicz then went in for the hosts before former Halifax prop Andy Shickell touched down an astute Jones kick to close the gap to 22-16.
This seemed to spark Halifax and it was the hosts that scored the next three tries through Dylan Nash, Steve Bannister and Paterson, who finished a length of the field move and also added six goals. Keighley did have the last word however when Jones spun a pass to James Haythornthwaite and the teenager cleverly avoided a tackle to twist over in the final minute.
Over the Easter period, Keighley have come alive in the Championship. After starting the league season with minus nine points and a big loss to Widnes, they have steadily got better and after earning a credible draw with Sheffield on Good Friday, things got better on Easter Monday with a 42-10 defeat of fellow promoted team Dewsbury Rams. When you take these two results and the Halifax game into consideration when the Cougars really did deserve a bonus point for their tenacity in defeat, it suggests that the previous thought of Keighley returning to Championship One may not happen if they can continue with these types of performances.
Halifax still don't look like the team they were. After losing to Hunslet in the Northern Rail Cup they conceded 40 point defeats to Leigh and Featherstone, they put 50 on Toulouse and then laboured to this win. I don't know quite what is going on at the Shay but they will have to get their FAX right soon!
Showing posts with label Keighley Cougars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Keighley Cougars. Show all posts
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Thursday, 25 March 2010
RL Comment - Muddy Marvelous! Keighley v Batley
I don't know how anyone else felt about the televised Championship game tonight, but I felt this was another good honest rugby league clash between two sides that wanted to put on a show in dreadful conditions.
I felt it beat last weekend's Super League fare between Crusaders and Catalans Dragons hands down as far more rugby was played. In fact I think the generous teams were doing their best for Sport Relief with a sponsored snoozeathon last week was that bad! Yes there were lots of mistakes and skill levels were a bit lacking in places, but for honest endeavour and having a go, you couldn't criticise either team.
Paul Handforth again showed why he is one of the better halfbacks knocking about outside Super League with a controlling influence on the game and direct input to three of Batley's tries. Keighley too gave their all and they showed once more that they will be a match for anyone on their own ground.
Here is how Sporting Life reported the game, which finished a 22-12 win for visiting Batley:
Batley broke their duck in the Co-operative Championship with a 22-12 win over Keighley at a muddy Cougar Park on Thursday night.
The Cougars had their first win in their sights when they led 12-10 at half-time thanks to tries from Tom Burton and Danny Jones and two goals from Jones in reply to tries from Chris Buttery and Mark Barlow.
Both sides had scores disallowed by video referee Stuart Cummings before the Bulldogs secured the points with late tries from Sean Hesketh and Danny Maun.
I felt it beat last weekend's Super League fare between Crusaders and Catalans Dragons hands down as far more rugby was played. In fact I think the generous teams were doing their best for Sport Relief with a sponsored snoozeathon last week was that bad! Yes there were lots of mistakes and skill levels were a bit lacking in places, but for honest endeavour and having a go, you couldn't criticise either team.
Paul Handforth again showed why he is one of the better halfbacks knocking about outside Super League with a controlling influence on the game and direct input to three of Batley's tries. Keighley too gave their all and they showed once more that they will be a match for anyone on their own ground.
Here is how Sporting Life reported the game, which finished a 22-12 win for visiting Batley:
Batley broke their duck in the Co-operative Championship with a 22-12 win over Keighley at a muddy Cougar Park on Thursday night.
The Cougars had their first win in their sights when they led 12-10 at half-time thanks to tries from Tom Burton and Danny Jones and two goals from Jones in reply to tries from Chris Buttery and Mark Barlow.
Both sides had scores disallowed by video referee Stuart Cummings before the Bulldogs secured the points with late tries from Sean Hesketh and Danny Maun.
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Co-operative Championship Match Report: WIDNES VIKINGS 72 KEIGHLEY COUGARS 10
Promoted Keighley Cougars had won their previous nine games before running into an expansive Widnes Vikings who passed and offloaded well and had a backline that was full of pace and strength. It was a complete mismatch at the Stobart Stadium Halton.
Centre of attention were the Vikings two young middle backs, Dean Thompson and Shane Grady. Both showed a hunger to take the ball in and their prowess inside the Keighley twenty metre area was impressive, resulting in try hat-tricks for the pair with Grady also booting ten goals.
The rout began in the 4th minute when Grady went through. The form of dual contract signing Liam Farrell was also impressive and he set the tone and position for the second try when good passing left saw Grady find Matt Gardner at the corner. A touchline goal from Grady made it 12-0 and the Cougars began to stir with props Andy Shickell and Brendan Rawlings making yards. Unfortunately on the back of their good work little followed.
Twenty two minutes in, the Vikings third try came when a quick tap penalty saw Farell accelerate, twist and spin out of a tackle only for Cougars fullback George Raynor to chase back and then deny supporting Dave Houghton. The ball then moved right at pace and Anthony Thackeray sent Thompson in for his first try. The centre was then held up over the line but that only delayed the inevitable and Dave Allen finished by the posts for Grady to goal and make it 22-0.
On the half hour, Farrell notched a well earned try when he followed Houghton before the Cougars scored their only try of the first half. It was a well worked effort, stand-off Jon Presley slipping a tackle before grubber kicking to the corner for Gavin Duffy to finish well. Danny Jones added the difficult goal but 28-6 was as close as it got for the Cougars despite some impressive work around dummy half from Jamaine Wray.
With time ticking away in the first half a late raid on the left brought a powerful finish from Grady and he booted a fifth goal to make it 34-6 at half-time.
Cougars held their line for five minutes of the second half before Grady stormed through for his hat-trick off Farrell. Thompson had seen a try disallowed but there was no denying him after 49 minutes when he took a Thackeray pass and bludgeoned over. Grady goaled both tries but narrowly missed the conversion attempt to Thompson's hat-trick which brought up the fifty point mark for the Vikings and came after more good work from Thackeray.
Keighley gave a spirited response and pulled a try back from wing Craig Moss after a peach of a pass from Danny Jones, but this only seemed to antagonise the Vikings and they cut loose to score four more tries before the end. First Thomas Coyle scurried over after 66 minutes before Richard Varkulis cut in from his unfamiliar wing position to carry a defender over. Five minutes from the end Thackeray claimed a deserved try thanks to a combination of trickery and footwork before Scott Yates burned off the cover before the end to take the Vikings to 72 points and end a satisfactory afternoon's work.
WIDNES: Scott Yates, Richard Varkulis, Dean Thompson, Shane Grady, Matt Gardner; Anthony Thackeray, James Webster; Ben Kavanagh, Mark Smith, Jim Gannon, Liam Farrell, Lee Doran, Dave Allen. Subs: Thomas Coyle, Chris Gerard, Ben Davies, Dave Houghton.
Tries: Grady 4, 38, 45, Gardner 10, Thompson 22, 49, 56, Allen 27, Farrell 30, Coyle 66, Varkulis 71, Thackeray 75, Yates 77.
Goals: Grady 10/13.
KEIGHLEY: George Raynor, Craig Moss, Tom Burton, Ollie Pursglove, Gavin Duffy; Jon Presley, Danny Jones; Andy Shickell, James Feather, Brendan Rawlins, Will Cartledge, Richard Jones, Ben Sagar.
Subs: Jamaine Wray, James Haythornthwaite, Scott Law, Ryan Benjafield.
Tries: Duffy 34, Moss 62.
Goals: Jones 1/2.
Centre of attention were the Vikings two young middle backs, Dean Thompson and Shane Grady. Both showed a hunger to take the ball in and their prowess inside the Keighley twenty metre area was impressive, resulting in try hat-tricks for the pair with Grady also booting ten goals.
The rout began in the 4th minute when Grady went through. The form of dual contract signing Liam Farrell was also impressive and he set the tone and position for the second try when good passing left saw Grady find Matt Gardner at the corner. A touchline goal from Grady made it 12-0 and the Cougars began to stir with props Andy Shickell and Brendan Rawlings making yards. Unfortunately on the back of their good work little followed.
Twenty two minutes in, the Vikings third try came when a quick tap penalty saw Farell accelerate, twist and spin out of a tackle only for Cougars fullback George Raynor to chase back and then deny supporting Dave Houghton. The ball then moved right at pace and Anthony Thackeray sent Thompson in for his first try. The centre was then held up over the line but that only delayed the inevitable and Dave Allen finished by the posts for Grady to goal and make it 22-0.
On the half hour, Farrell notched a well earned try when he followed Houghton before the Cougars scored their only try of the first half. It was a well worked effort, stand-off Jon Presley slipping a tackle before grubber kicking to the corner for Gavin Duffy to finish well. Danny Jones added the difficult goal but 28-6 was as close as it got for the Cougars despite some impressive work around dummy half from Jamaine Wray.
With time ticking away in the first half a late raid on the left brought a powerful finish from Grady and he booted a fifth goal to make it 34-6 at half-time.
Cougars held their line for five minutes of the second half before Grady stormed through for his hat-trick off Farrell. Thompson had seen a try disallowed but there was no denying him after 49 minutes when he took a Thackeray pass and bludgeoned over. Grady goaled both tries but narrowly missed the conversion attempt to Thompson's hat-trick which brought up the fifty point mark for the Vikings and came after more good work from Thackeray.
Keighley gave a spirited response and pulled a try back from wing Craig Moss after a peach of a pass from Danny Jones, but this only seemed to antagonise the Vikings and they cut loose to score four more tries before the end. First Thomas Coyle scurried over after 66 minutes before Richard Varkulis cut in from his unfamiliar wing position to carry a defender over. Five minutes from the end Thackeray claimed a deserved try thanks to a combination of trickery and footwork before Scott Yates burned off the cover before the end to take the Vikings to 72 points and end a satisfactory afternoon's work.
WIDNES: Scott Yates, Richard Varkulis, Dean Thompson, Shane Grady, Matt Gardner; Anthony Thackeray, James Webster; Ben Kavanagh, Mark Smith, Jim Gannon, Liam Farrell, Lee Doran, Dave Allen. Subs: Thomas Coyle, Chris Gerard, Ben Davies, Dave Houghton.
Tries: Grady 4, 38, 45, Gardner 10, Thompson 22, 49, 56, Allen 27, Farrell 30, Coyle 66, Varkulis 71, Thackeray 75, Yates 77.
Goals: Grady 10/13.
KEIGHLEY: George Raynor, Craig Moss, Tom Burton, Ollie Pursglove, Gavin Duffy; Jon Presley, Danny Jones; Andy Shickell, James Feather, Brendan Rawlins, Will Cartledge, Richard Jones, Ben Sagar.
Subs: Jamaine Wray, James Haythornthwaite, Scott Law, Ryan Benjafield.
Tries: Duffy 34, Moss 62.
Goals: Jones 1/2.
Monday, 22 February 2010
KEIGHLEY COUGARS DOCKED NINE POINTS AHEAD OF CHAMPIONSHIP START
The Cougars will start on -9 points after a decision came from the Rugby League regarding their entrance into administration. A similar fate befell Widnes Vikings in 2008 while Rochdale Hornets also started on minus points last term in Championship One and during the course of the year Doncaster also saw points docked.
The previous Cougars company - Keighley Cougars (2001) Ltd hit trouble and a new company was formed.
A brief statement released by the RFL read:
The RFL have confirmed that Keighley Cougars will start their Co-operative Championship season on minus nine points as a result of going into administration in December 2009.
The decision was taken after the RFL Board agreed to admit Keighley Cougars (2010) Limited as a member of the RFL.
Keighley will start their league campaign next Sunday with an away fixture against Widnes Vikings.
At last week's Co-operative League Launch, Dave Parkinson caught up with Cougars Australian prop Brendan Rawlins.
"It was always going to be a hard battle and we know we will start on minus points but I think we will do quite well." The forward said. "We are nice and fit this year and have been training hard in the off-season so anything can happen."
"We've gone well against Whitehaven and Workington."
"The base of our team this year is similar to our Grand Final team lst year. There's only been a few other lads brought in."
The Cougars are a team in form. Taking into account last seasons form, Keighley have won their last nine games, although they face the prospect of meeting Barrow in a future midweek game after the last round of Northern Rail Cup fixtures was decimated by snowfall across Northern England.
"Sadly I only came back from Australia for the second half of the year but hopefully we can follow that on. I had to spend six months back home sorting visas out but hopefully I can play more this year. I had to go back to Australia to apply for a work visa again and it was just a long process."
It will be a testing league opener for the Cougars on Sunday when they take on Widnes Vikings.
I'll have a report of that game online.
The previous Cougars company - Keighley Cougars (2001) Ltd hit trouble and a new company was formed.
A brief statement released by the RFL read:
The RFL have confirmed that Keighley Cougars will start their Co-operative Championship season on minus nine points as a result of going into administration in December 2009.
The decision was taken after the RFL Board agreed to admit Keighley Cougars (2010) Limited as a member of the RFL.
Keighley will start their league campaign next Sunday with an away fixture against Widnes Vikings.
At last week's Co-operative League Launch, Dave Parkinson caught up with Cougars Australian prop Brendan Rawlins.
"It was always going to be a hard battle and we know we will start on minus points but I think we will do quite well." The forward said. "We are nice and fit this year and have been training hard in the off-season so anything can happen."
"We've gone well against Whitehaven and Workington."
"The base of our team this year is similar to our Grand Final team lst year. There's only been a few other lads brought in."
The Cougars are a team in form. Taking into account last seasons form, Keighley have won their last nine games, although they face the prospect of meeting Barrow in a future midweek game after the last round of Northern Rail Cup fixtures was decimated by snowfall across Northern England.
"Sadly I only came back from Australia for the second half of the year but hopefully we can follow that on. I had to spend six months back home sorting visas out but hopefully I can play more this year. I had to go back to Australia to apply for a work visa again and it was just a long process."
It will be a testing league opener for the Cougars on Sunday when they take on Widnes Vikings.
I'll have a report of that game online.
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