Welsh delight for Cougars after battling away victory

The Welsh side broke the deadlock in the 11th minute when, on the back of a scrum, they worked the ball across to the left-hand channel where Rob Massam fended off Paul White to dive in the corner.

Keighley hit back though, eight minutes later as the ball was moved quickly and Adam Brook’s offload out of the tackle freed space in the line from which Scott Law crashed over.

Cougars took the lead when, after North Wales gave away a silly penalty, Handforth got the short offload away to Law who skipped around a would-be tackler to get in underneath the posts for his second of the afternoon.

Penalties cost the home side once more when, after a challenge in the air, Paul White offloaded to Vinny Finigan who flicked the ball back to Rikki Sheriffe who somehow managed to touch down.

Crusaders got off to the best possible start in the second half when Anthony Murray’s side worked the ball across the wide pitch to Stuart Reardon who freed himself to score thanks to a quick swerve of the hips

The second period was proving a tighter affair than the first, with the home side looking more potent in attack.

This made Brook’s decision to take the two on the back of a penalty for offside more the wiser, as he converted from 30 metres out.

As weather conditions worsened, the visitors restored their two-try advantage as Matthew Bailey offloaded to Sheriffe who strolled over for his second of the afternoon.

Crusaders then used the slippery surface to their advantage – Billy Brickhill breaking from Scott Turner’s pass, and momentum from the turf carried him under the posts for the try.

With the rain getting heavier, the Cougars were awarded a penalty just to the left of the posts and Brook duly converted.

Cougars secured the two points when James Feather squeezed his way over from the play the ball.

But, the home side had the final say of the afternoon when the conditions underfoot caught the Cougars out, and winger Scott Turner pounced for the try.