Gary Moorby will be delighted to see the back of the Don Valley Stadium.

Two defeats there last year and a cruel one-pointer this time, it is clearly not a source of rich pickings.

But it was the manner of the 25-24 defeat at the hands of the Eagles in the fourth round of the Powergen Challenge Cup yesterday that will most perplex the coach.

It sounds close, only Richard Goddard's 77th-minute drop goal separating the teams. But it wasn't quite that simple.

Poor execution and some untimely lapses of concentration let the Eagles take a 16-point lead which ultimately proved the Cougars' downfall.

Moorby can be proud of the commitment in the comeback that tied the scores with eight minutes remaining, but Keighley only have themselves to blame for digging that hole in the first place.

Things had started brightly, Jason Ramshaw's 40-20 getting the visitors upfield for Simeon Hoyle to dive over from dummy half.

But man-of-the-match Gavin Brown sent in Andy Poynter and then Goddard to give the home side the lead. Keighley then pulled it back to 12-8 just before the break when Karl Smith stuck out an arm to touch down on the right wing.

But two bombs early in the second half were poorly dealt with, giving first Goddard and then Brown a chance to make it 24-8.

The tide turned after a stupendous tackle from skipper James Rushforth held up Ian Thompson just short of the line.

A quick tap by Hoyle from an off-side gave Sinfield a chance to dive in before Ricky Helliwell used all his skill to send a beautiful over-the-top off-load into Chris Wainwright's hands on the last tackle.

Wainwright dived through and Paul Ashton was unlucky with his conversion into the wind.

With eight minutes left, Matti Firth launched a bomb out to the left wing. Paul Wells spilled it and Wainwright gratefully picked it up and fed Rushforth, who steamed down the touchline to cross the whitewash. With the help of the crossbar Ashton got his kick over, but it wasn't quite enough