Swinton 41, Cougars16

COUGARS fortunes turned on one moment early in the second half.

Phil Stephenson, who is growing stature and ability with every match, pounced for a brilliant try which would have pulled Keighley back to within six points of the Lions. But referee Steve Gamson ruled he had failed to ground the ball properly.

Lions scored at the other end and any hopes of a fight back were dashed.

The Lions certainly gave the Cougars a good old mauling as their bigger, tougher pack dominated for all, but two or three short spells - Keighley's six certainly had a torrid time, and in the end failed to give Chris Robinson the platform he needed to launch a consistent attacking game.

The backs more than matched Swinton, and in Matt Foster and Simon Irving they had the game's most attacking force.

But their opportunities were limited. Foster was outstanding in attack as well as defence -where two or three brilliant try saving tackles marked him out as the outstanding individualof the game.

The game started promisingly for the Cougars. From a midfield free kick the pack took three drives to the right, the ball was worked across the line to the left, David Larder broke the line, handed on to Matt Foster who sent Marlon Billy in at the corner.

Swinton then woke up, their pack particularly Paul Barrow, began to assert themselves. They landed a Steve Gartland penalty before Ian Watson slipped the ball to Steve Gartland who darted over, he added the conversion and the lions were in the driving seat at 8-4.

Cougars missed a couple of good chances. They squandered a 5 to 2 overlap, and when Irving broke down the right the inside pass went behind the supporting players.

Swinton took full advantage. Watson landed the first of his three drop goals. Jimmy Veikoso found acres of room down the right flank - the sliding defence clearly not moving well enough, leaving Irving and Billy stranded time and again. Paul Barrow broke the left flank to send Mark Welsby racing over, Gartland's conversion making it 17-4.

Barrow again created the gap, this time sending Gavin Price racing away, he sent Simon Ashcroft over. Watson landed a second drop goal and the Cougars were really struggling.

Peter Walsh, signed this week from York, came off the bench for a dazed Darren Summerill, and made an immediate impact.

He broke deep in his own half, fed Phil Stephenson, he passed to Irving who raced over to give the Cougars a timely boost just before the break. Chris Robinson converted and the score was a more respectable 22-10.

It could have been closer had Jason Ramshaw opted for a very kickable injury time penalty, instead the ball went wide and the chance was lost.

The second half didn't start too well. Foster stopped Jean Casey but from the play the ball Matt Knowles crashed over.

The the cougars took charge - they grabbed one try and should have had a second. For fifteen minutes could have clawed their way back into the game.

Their third try was a cracker. Irving broke in his own half, slipped the ball in the tackle to Foster, who raced clear and sent Billy in for his second.

Robinson failed with the kick then landed a penalty. The score was 16-26. The next score was going to be crucial.

Phil Stephenson collected Jason Ramshaw's kick to dive over. However the referee Steve Ganson gave a knock and the game turned.

Swinton came out fighting, but not before Foster pulled off the tackle of the game. He hammered Welsby into touch as he raced for for the corner.

Barron again proved crucial, he created the gap to send Gareth Adams in, Gartland converted and at 32-16 with only 12 minutes left it was game, set and match.

Watson added a third drop goal and Tommy Hodgkinson made the Cougar defence look silly as he dummied his way through some sloppy tackling. Gartland converted and added an injury time penalty to complete the rout.

Stephenson and Andy Senior tried hard up front but the Cougars were out-gunned. They definitely need more size and experience up front - and soon.

Cougars: Foster, Wray, McDonald, Irivng, Billy, Owen, Robinson, Stephenson, Ramshaw, Senior, Cain, Larder, Summerill. Edwards (not used) Smith, Shackleton, Walsh.

Lions: Welsby, Ashcroft, Veikoso, Evans, Price-Jones, Gartland, Watson, Knowles, Cannon, Barrow, Coley, P Barrow, Casey. Hodkinson, Craig, Adams, Rogers.

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