Halifax 30

Keighley Cougars 22

The Cougars kept fighting right to the final hooter of the game.

With just seconds left on the clock, Matti Firth followed up his own grubber kick to round off a man-of-the match performance against his hometown club.

Craig Nipperess slotted over the conversion to bring down the curtain on a Cougars season full of frustration.

This has been a year that started with promise from a team packed with potential but in the end, despite a lot of commitment, the Cougars lacked the experience to turn enthusiasm into league points.

This game perhaps typified their season, they were never quite good enough to seal victory. Jamie Bloem was again a major difference between the two teams and he opened the scoring in the third minute with a simple penalty.

But the Cougars signalled their intent and hit back almost immediately. Simeon Hoyle marked his final performance for the Cougars before he flies out to Australia with the opening try - again set up by good work from Firth. Nipperess converted and Keighley briefly led 6-2.

If there was a turning point in this game, it was the sin-binning of skipper Matt Bramald on the quarter hour mark for a professional foul.

When he was off the pitch, Halifax not only bagged two tries through Nicky Sheriffe and Ben Black, they also gained the momentum and

with Bloem adding a second conversion, they led 14-6.

Keighley again refused to lie down, Firth sending Dave Foster over against his former club to make it 14-12, which would have given Keighley a huge boost at the break had they not conceded a second try to Sheriffe in the 38th minute. That gave the home side an 18-10 lead at the break.

Again the Cougars showed their fighting sprit to open the scoring after the interval. Jason Clegg powered to the line and set up field position for Firth to put a grubber kick the way of Lee Paterson. Nipperess' conversion narrowed the gap to just two points.

But as the conditions deteriorated, Keighley were unable to kick on for victory. Instead Halifax made certain of the two points with late tries from Black and Ben Feehan. Both were converted by Bloem.

With just seconds left on the clock, Firth pounced on his own kick to complete Keighley's season and he among many Cougars players can hold his head up having given 100 per cent throughout the year.