Keighley Cougars triumph after chalk-and-cheese display (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Keighley Cougars triumph after chalk-and-cheese display

10:52pm Sunday 27th May 2012 in Cougars By Ross Heppenstall, Bradford Bulls Reporter

York City Knights 18, Keighley Cougars 42

Jason Demetriou saluted his players after the Cougars recovered from the shock of falling 18-0 behind to record an emphatic victory at the expense of Co-operative Championship basement outfit York today.

The City Knights belied their position in the table to make a stunning start with a try from Jack Lee and two touchdowns by Tom Bush, with player-coach Chris Thorman adding three goals.

Yet despite the 18-0 advantage inside the opening quarter, a first win of the season eluded the Huntington Stadium hosts as the Cougars made their class pay and seized control.

James Haythornthwaite went over to cap a fine flowing move from Demetriou’s men, and centre Danny Lawton added the extras.

That gave the visitors the belief to score again through former Bulls winger Semi Tadulala and ex-Wakefield star Sam Obst, with Lawton converting both tries to tie the scores at 18-18.

Tadulala then finished off another fine handling sequence to edge the Cougars in front shortly after the break, and Craig Moss, Lawton and Jy-mel Coleman also touched down.

Lawton also booted two penalties and finished the match with a personal 18-point haul.

Player-coach Demetriou said: “We didn’t start with the tempo and aggression that we had spoken about all week, which was disappointing because we gave away a big lead before we switched on.

“But I have to say after the 20-minute mark we never looked back, and in the second half we were dominant.

"Credit to York, they threw the ball around really well, but we highlighted things in the video beforehand and just didn’t deal with them at the start of the game.

“The start of the game wasn’t a shock because we had already gone through it on the video and should have taken that into the start of the match.

"We just need to be better at the start of games because we have a massive month coming up.”