Cougars fight back to pinch cup victory (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Cougars fight back to pinch Northern Rail Cup victory

8:43pm Sunday 31st January 2010 in Sport By Connor Murphy, Bradford Bulls Reporter

Blackpool 22 Cougars 24

Cougars chief Barry Eaton knows his side have a long way to go after they got out of jail late in their Northern Rail Cup opener.

The crucial try came five minutes from time as Keighley won a nail-biter against Blackpool Panthers, having trailed 12-2 at half-time.

A comeback had looked unlikely when Greg Nicholson was sin-binned after the break and the hosts scored to make it 16-2.

But the Cougars scored four tries in the final 30 minutes, through Brendon Rawlins, Ben Belcher, James Haythornthwaite and Gavin Duffy, to clinch a victory that was essential if they are to have any serious designs on the cup.

Eaton said: “We were pretty flat and pretty lethargic and the game was slow because of the conditions. It was pretty sticky underfoot, which slowed the ruck down, but we allowed them to dominate that area anyway.

“I think we realised we’d given ourselves a big task to get out of trouble and we’re pleased with how we responded.

“But hopefully we’ve learned a lesson, because we won’t get away with that very often this season.

“We got the win, which is the important thing, but we’re still a long way off.”

Eaton does not think the problems his side experienced during the first half are too deep-rooted.

Some basic errors gifted Blackpool possession and tries, yet the Cougars head coach is confident solutions can be found in training.

Eaton said: “We didn’t deal with the kick-off on two occasions and we made one or two fundamental errors when we weren’t under any pressure and they led to tries. They were flabbergasting errors but it wasn’t as if Blackpool were bursting through our line – we contributed to our own downfall.

“When we started playing the way we wanted to play, we looked better, made some inroads and started to make some clean breaks.

“We know we’ve got plenty to work on.”

Encouragingly, Keighley came through the game relatively unscathed, with Will Cartledge the only player to pick up an injury.

Eaton said: “Will suffered a slightly sprained ankle but he was only off the pitch for about six minutes before he had it strapped up and went back out there.

“We felt we needed his influence because he was our stand-out performer and we couldn’t afford to lose him.”