Hawks 16, Cougars 4 - POWER, passion and commitment were thrown into the mixing pot in equal measure as Cougars took on Hunslet -- the form team of the moment.

But that important final finishing touch was a vital missing ingredient as the Keighley side failed to cook up a victory at the South Leeds Stadium.

For long periods they really turned up the heat, but the Hawks were buoyed up by their four-win start to the season. They were on a real high after taking the Super League scalp of Huddersfield Giants in the Challenge Cup, and adding Dewsbury to their list of Arriva Cup victims.

After Keighley's bright start to the season against Doncaster, and comfortable win over amateurs Thornhill Trojans, they have performed well, but been unable to turn good performances in good wins.

They desperately need a player to rise from the pack as an inventive play-maker who an 'make things happen.'

Time after time they have battled their way forward only o throw away golden opportunities with a wayward pass or ill-judged.

Gary Moorby's side is desperately searching for the secret of success once inside their opponents' 'Red Zone.'

It is that short space inside the 20m area which seems to send the whole team into a blind panic.

When they should be calm, collected -- and putting the opposition under pressure -- they rush into hurried periods of play and ultimately throw away scoring chances.

The confidence to take on teams in the 'Zone' will come, and once it has been discovered someone will suffer. The young Cougar side will click into gear and rip another team apart.

There were signs on Sunday that the breakthrough could come from the blossoming partnership between Oliver Wilkes and Karl Smith. They are players with a similar temperament and equal determination, if they can harness those qualities, together they will become a formidable force.

Former Cougar captain, Danny Fearon, was expected to play a major part in the Hunslet attack, but he seems to be as big an anigma for the Hawks as he was at Cougar Park, with moments of pure brilliance punctuating long periods of apparent boredom.

He was in the thick of the action when he squared up to current captain, James Rushforth, after just two minutes to set the mood for an often ill-tempered encounter.

He also gave the Cougar fans their biggest cheer of the afternoon when he noncholently missed fielding a simple kick-off. His miss handed Cougars a scrum in front of the posts -- but they let him off the hook by not punishing his mistake with a score.

Paul Ashton broke the early deadlock with a penalty after 15 minutes as referee J King dominated the game with frustrating interruptions.

Ian Higgins put Hunslet ahead when he broke through three poor tackles to go over on the left. John Liddell added a penalty to stretch the home side's lead to 6-2.

Ashton reduced the arrears to two points with his second simple penalty.

The 6-4 scoreline reflected a tight opening period, but with time running out a long pass allowed George Raynor to stroll in unopposed.

Cougars had one last chance to pull things back but a forward pass, when they had Hawkes struggling, let them off the hook.

With their 10-4 lead looking far from impressive Hunslet rarely broke out of their own half in the second period.

Wave after wave of Cougar pressure kept they pinned in their own defensive area, but despite the territorial advantage the Keighley side rarely looked like making the breakthrough their pressure deserved.

Raynor made certain of the win when he collected a towering cross-field kick from Liddell to touch down, and Liddell added the conversion to stretch their lead to 16-4.

Moorby's side have a week to hone their attacking skills before the visit of London Skolars on March 9. They should not only be looking for victory against the new boys, but a clinical, controlled, cricket score of a victory with every player getting the taste for scoring action.