Widnes Vikings 32 Keighley Cougars 31- VICTORY was stolen from the Academy by a late try and even later conversion -- after 10 minutes of extra time.

After 80 minutes Cougars were leading 31-20 and looking to celebrate victory over the Super League opponents, but the added time went on . . . and on as the crowd called for the final whistle. In the ninth minute of added time Widne's prop forward crashed over near the posts to make the score 30-31 to the Cougars.

The conversion was added and Widnes had clinched a one point victory as the referee finally blew to end the game.

Many questions have been asked about where the referee found 10 extra minutes of injury time, he would not say, but the young cougars did not deserve to lose.

At the end of normal time the Academy were well worth what everyone believed would be a win, but the final result was a travesty of justice. No amount of condolences from the Widnes officials and staff could make up for the way the result was taken from them.

The players were gutted, but in retrospect a one-point defeat at the hands of a Super League outfit, on their own ground, shows how far this young Academy team has come.

The game itself was a cracker. The half time score of 16-16 showed how close it had been after Widnes took an early 6-0 lead. It wasn't long before the Cougars were over, Colin Pickles brilliantly stealing the ball in a one-on-one tackle and racing in at the corner.

Widnes struck back with an unconverted try to extend their lead to 10-4, but Andy Feather went over for the Cougars and Rob Weir converted to level the scores.

It was clear that the heat was affecting both teams as the game opened up approaching half time. Both teams scored converted tries with Gary McLelland going over for the Cougars and Weir adding the conversion.

Although the Vikings were first to score after the break, taking a 20-16 lead, Cougars began to dominate and equalised with a Tobias Williams try. They began to pull clear thanks to a try from Scott Bellamy and Andy Feather added a drop goal to lead 25-20.

The game appeared to be won with only five minutes on the clock when Andy Feather went over for his second try, converted by Weir, leaving the score 31-20 to the Cougars.

Widnes closed the gap with a converted try before their prop - and the goal kicker - delivered the final killer blow.

The pack was again tremendous against bigger opposition with outstanding performances from Tobias Williams and Gary McLelland, but Andy Feather pipped them both for the man of the match award.

Now the boys must bounce back as they face another Super League club this weekend when London Broncos travel to Cougar Park tomorrow (Saturday). If they play as well as they did against Widnes their luck must turn. The match kicks off at 2.30.