This weekend's 21-6 victory over Hunslet Hawks was in many respects Keighley's most professional performance of the season so far. They monopolised possession thanks to a fantastic kicking performance from Matti Firth, the forwards were always in the ascendancy and the backs looked more than capable of scoring.

This augurs well for the forthcoming league campaign, which starts with a trip to Hunslet on Good Friday evening, and the Cougars will take with them a massive psychological boost from this display.

Coach Gary Moorby said: "This was another professional performance from us built on good defence, and our completion rate was very good. All three tries were well worked and we were unlucky not to score at least a couple more.

"Our kicking game has been inconsistent this season but we've worked on it in training and got our rewards here. We can go to Batley knowing it will be a tough game, but with a real chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages."

Hunslet opened the scoring with a fifth-minute Jon Liddell penalty, but after that it was virtually one-way traffic as Keighley opened a 16-2 half-time lead.

The first try came to the increasingly impressive Dave Foster in the ninth minute. From the base of a scrum in front of the Hunslet posts Firth and fellow half-back Adam Mitchell worked a runaround move which sent Foster in untouched. Mitchell converted, then landed two penalties.

Keighley had to wait until the 26th minute for their second try, but it was the best of the game. Ollie Wilkes, a real force in recent weeks, broke inside his own half, though his pass to Gareth Hewitt looked marginally forward. The Keighley centre found Jason Ramshaw on the inside and he carried the ball a further 20 metres before releasing Simeon Hoyle, who raced in under the posts. Mitchell converted for 16-2.

Hunslet needed a quick try and in the 43rd minute former Cougar Danny Fearon ghosted through a static defence after a great break by Paul Seal.

Liddell converted for 16-8 but any hopes were dashed by Firth's kicking game - highlighted by a 54th-minute field goal - and Hunslet indiscipline. They had Tony Howcroft sin-binned for a professional foul on the hour and nine minutes later Fearon was dismissed for a high tackle on Matt Foster.

Then Hunslet ended with 11 men on the field when Seal joined Wilkes in the sin-bin. Andy Robinson's try completed the Hawks' woes.