Keighley Cougars let lead slip as boss admits: I got it wrong (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Keighley Cougars let lead slip as boss Demetriou admits: I got it wrong

5:57pm Sunday 12th February 2012 in Sport By Ben Turner

Keighley Cougars 16, Batley Bulldogs 22

Jason Demetriou’s side suffered heartbreak in their Northern Rail Cup opener as Batley came back from 16-4 down to leave Cougars with an uphill task to qualify for the knockout stages.

The Keighley coach blamed himself for the defeat but saw some positive signs from his team against a dogged Bulldogs outfit.

He said: “We were disappointed with how we played in the last 25 minutes because we just switched off.

“Credit to Batley though, they did really well to come back but I think I got things a bit wrong because we were pretty weak up the middle.

“I thought overall we played very well and the commitment of the team for most of the game was pretty good.

“We were up against a really good side, who are so well coached by John (Kear), and a lot of our guys matched them.

“It was a team effort and my guys did well but I have to take the blame because I picked too many hookers and halves and not enough big boys to sure us up in the middle.”

Demetriou admitted next weekend’s clash at Toulouse is already a must-win encounter.

He said: “We’ve now got to regroup and prepare for a tough trip to Toulouse and we’ve got to get the win if we’re going to progress out of our group into the knockout stages.”

The Cougars led 10-4 at half-time as Demetriou and Richie Barnett’s tries cancelled out Tom Henderson’s early score.

Keighley started the second half well, with hooker James Feather extending their lead early on to give them a 12-point advantage.

But a comeback, orchestrated by former Halifax scrum half Ben Black, saw the Bulldogs on a roll as Gareth Potts, Danny Maun, Johnny Walker and Mark Applegarth all crossed the line thanks to the half-back’s creatitivity.