Whitehaven 46, Cougars 16

MISSED opportunities left Cougars staring at the heels of a runaway Whitehaven side.

Simon Irving saw the ball knocked from his grasp behind the line when all he had to do was touch down.

Chris Robinson missed a simple penalty and Irving's kicking boots also deserted him as a straight forward chance went begging.

Within the first 15 minutes the Keighley side had let a possible 10 points slip form their grasp - and the powerful Cumbrian outfit took full advantage.

They were already six points ahead after Graeme Morton charged through a gaping hole in Keighley's defence and Kevin Hetherington floated over the conversion.

The game was only three minutes old, and already Whitehaven had exposed the shaky Cougar defensive line. It has been their biggest weakness so far this season; the defence - normally a cornerstone of the side's success - has collapsed under the slightest pressure.

It was always going to be a difficult match, the powerful Cumbrian side have huge forwards, with powerful Samoan Siose Muliumu running in two tries and giving the Cougars a torrid time all afternoon.

Their pack allowed the Cumbrian side to dominate in all departments, and Cougars will be keen to put memories of the match behind them.

Miliumu's first try came after 23 minutes when he took advantage of another break in the defensive line to power over the line from close range. Hetherington made no mistake with the second of his seven goals.

Five minutes later Wilson burst away from a play-the-ball on the half way line to expose the Cougar left flank which has leaked a fair number of the points against Keighley term.

As the half time whistle approached Muliumu again charged in from close range .

The half-time score of 22-0 gave Keighley's travelling band of fans nothing to shout about after making the long journey north - and they faced the horrifying prospect of an even longer journey home.

Aaron Lester Underlined their fears four minutes into the second half as he was allowed to waltz through the powder-puff tackling with Hetherington adding the kick in front of the posts.

Morton added the second of his tries and Hetherington's goal kick put the home side 34-0 ahead.

Things had rarely looked bleaker for the Cougars, but in their darkest hour there shone a chink of light.

Phil Stephenson, who has been growing in power and confidence with ever game, raced through the Whitehaven line and slipped the ball to Ramshaw who gleefully accepted the chance to put some points on the board.

Irving could not make the conversion but was awarded a penalty try after Dave Larder made the break and brought Chris Robinson into play. Irving was brought down before Robinson's pass reached him, and Irving made no mistake with the conversion.

Lee Kiddie and Gus Malietoa-Brown added converted tries to hammer home the Whitehaven domination, but Cougar debutant Chris Parker burst through for a late try which Irving goaled.

The late flurry of points showed Keighley had developed a little more backbone than they had shown in earlier confrontations, and Crook's intensive training could be paying dividends with improved levels of fitness - but the game also revealed there is still a long, long way to go.

Fred Sapatu and Dave Larder stuck to their task throughout the 80 minutes with Stephenson adding to the yardage count as they battled away against the odds.

Coach Lee Crooks was far from happy with his side's performance. "I think the players let themselves down badly. I couldn't have asked more of them in training during the week, but it just didn't happen out there where it really counts."

Whitehaven Warriors - Wilson; Lewthwaite, Malietoa-Brown, Hetherington, Wuirk; Kiddie, Joe; Armstrong, Lester, Fatialofa, Morton, Muliumu, Charlton. Substitutes used: Seeds, Knox, Chambers.

Cougars: Lee; Billy, McDonald, Irving, Summerhill; Edwards (Walsh), Robinson, Stephenson, Ramshaw, Cain, Sapatu, M Campbell, Larder. Substitutes used: Walsh, Parker, S Campbell.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.