Whitehaven 12, Cougars 22

The Cougars are back in the black.

A superb 22-12 win at Whitehaven yesterday finally eradicated the nine-point deduction imposed at the start of the season, boosting survival hopes.

Despite being many pundits favourites for relegation, with or without their points penalty, Keighley picked up their second win of the campaign after coming from behind in Cumbria.

Barry Eaton’s side still sit bottom of the Championship table, now with one point to their name, but they continue to confound expectations.

Off-field matters aside, they have been easily competitive in a tough division and would be sitting in seventh place without their penalty.

“It’s a good result and one we knew would be absolutely vital,” said head coach Eaton.

“We’ve proved a few people wrong this season and we’re doing really well.

“There are always going to be peaks and troughs because we’ve got a young team who don’t have the experience of playingat this level.

“The defeat against Feather-stone two weeks ago was a low but what has really impressed me is the way we’ve responded to bad results.

“The boys were singing in the dressing room after the game about finally overcoming the points deduction and that shows how much it means to them.”

The Cougars fell behind during the first half to tries from Josh Veivers and Kurt Wilton, both converted by Carl Rudd.

But Daley Williams resp-onded before the break, Craig Moss scored six minutes into the second half and Ollie Pursglove scored twice in the last 15 minutes, Danny Jones adding three conversions.

Eaton, however, reserved special praise for Jonny Presley, who starred after being dropped the previous week, while Brendon Rawlins and Will Cartledge both wanted to play on with injuries.

He said: “Jonny was really superb and created a lot down the left side, while his defence was solid. He responded exactly how I wanted.

“Will and Brendon clashed heads and were laid out for a while. They called for a stretcher for Will and he had to be put in a neck brace.

“But he got up and walked off the field and wanted to come back on with ten minutes to go. That epitomises the team’s effort and spirit.”