Batley 56, Cougars 4 - EFFORT and enthusiasm rocked a tough Batley side to their boots in blistering opening period at Mount Pleasant - but all the hard work evaporated in a spectacular second half collapse.

The scale of the Cougar decline was so impressive their hard work of the first 35 minutes was almost totally forgotten. They allowed the Bulldogs to run in eight second-half tries as the once solid defence disintegrated.

Few can take any credit from that period. The youthful team were rattled by the experienced Batley side and totally lost their composure.

After two victories many fans had returned expecting a classic battle with an old enemy. They backed their team to the hilt as they matched the home outfit for most of the first half, but were then terribly let down. But most of all the team had let themselves down after carving out a real opportunity.

Cougars looked the sharper team, playing with real enthusiasm in the opening exchanges and a superb downfield kick from Jason Ramshaw looked to have laid the foundation for a superb attacking opportunity. But the good work was undone when prop Steve Molloy slipped a pass to veteran Glen Tomlinson and he showed the young upstarts how the game should be played.

He bounced through several ineffective tackles and side-stepped the outstretched arms of fullback James Rushforth to leave him floundering as the stand-off touched down under the posts.

Moments later Rushforth made amends with a sparkling run which shattered the Batley defensive line to go in at the left. Both conversion attempts were missed to leave the scores level. The duel continued with Cougars looking bright on attack, but failing to capitalise with vital errors giving away possession.

They were forced to endure two sets of six tackles virtually on their own line, and looked to have survived when the ball popped out, Ramshaw attempted to intercept, but Tomlinson was there again to steal the ball and dance over.

His converted try, coming after a long period of concerted effort burst the Cougar bubble. They gave away two penalties for disputing the referee's decisions, and the second saw stand-off Paul Ashton sent to the sin-bin.

Former Cougar Paul Harrison powered over in the corner to secure a 14-4 half time lead for Batley, but there was still no sign of the nature of Keighley's collapse which was to follow the interval.

Ashton is not the only Keighley player to be penalised for his comments to referees in recent weeks, Oliver Wilkes and captain Danny Fearon have also been guilty. Everyone knows that the standard of refereeing leaves much to be desired, but giving away penalties for questioning the official is pure unprofessionalism - and should be severely punished.

While Ashton was in the bin Batley increased the pressure. Harrison scored his try and in the opening minutes of the second half they really piled on the agony.

Cougars dropped the ball from the kick-off and Danny Maun found space to score in the first minute.

There was still a little fight left in the Cougars with Mick Durham going close before being bundled into touch. Richard Moore ripped the Batley fullback's shirt to shreds and was penalised for his efforts.

Winger Leon Williamson opened the flood gates when the out-paced the defence to go in at the left after 60 minutes. Mark Cass touched down on the same spot and was followed over by Steve Molly. Craig Wright and Will Cartledge kept the points piling up and Bulldogs captain Craig Lingard completed the onslaught with the second of his two tries.

The tackling of Danny Foster was one of the few bright spots in a dismal second half performance. Gary Moorby's continued to show glimpses of skill with direct running from the play-the-ball, but too often attempted to display slick handling skills with gale force winds blowing across the ground.

If they are to reach their full potential the Keighley side must learn to complete each set of six tackles - and must not give away silly penalties.