Cougars 30, Barrow 28 - COUGARS clinched victory in a real Cougar Park thriller - the best game seen at the ground in the last two years.

It wasn't the best performance by a Cougar team, but they showed real guts and determination. Their never-say-die attitude saw them come out on top as the two developing teams played hopeful open rugby.

They trailed at times 12-0 and 24-10, but had the tenacity and skill to really dig deep. Their improvement since the French farce, that was their performance against St. Gaudens, is quite remarkable. Suddenly the season looks a whole lot brighter.

But let's not get giddy, there is still a lot of work to do. Defending in the first half left a lot to be desired.

Within seven minutes the Cougars trailed 12-0, tries coming from Mike Whitehead and Darren Holt, who added both conversions. It looked like being a long afternoon.

But the Cougars showed their potential, showed their spirit, but most of all showed their clinical finishing to get back into the game.

A superb long pass from their talisman Jason Ramshaw sent Chris Wainwright over in the 14th minute.

Adam Mitchell converted but couldn't add the extras four minutes later when Wainwright sent his winger Karl Smith crashing in at the corner.

It wouldn't be the Cougars if they didn't shoot themselves in the foot and their failure to field the kick-off resulted in the classy Cliffe Beverley racing over. A poor decision from the otherwise excellent referee Julian King awarded Barrow a scrum when they had clearly knocked on. This led to Kiwi Beverley racing through for his side's fourth try which Holt converted.

The Cougars finished the half on top and got their reward when a great kick from Mitchell was collected by the impressive David Foster, who touched down to make it 24-14 at the break.

They finished the half pounding the Barrow line, and resumed where they left off.

At this point praise must go to the Cougar coaching staff. Two changes, one tactical, one in personnel swung the game in Keighley's favour. Gary Moorby moved Richard Moore into the front row allowing Ramshaw to go into the back three. This not only opened the game up, but Moore was an inspiration up front, his aggression gave the Cougars real bite. With Ramshaw in the line instead of at acting half, Moorby was able to bring Paul Ashton on instead of Mitchell, and his more direct running proved crucial.

Oliver Wilkes was also impressive and he got the Cougars back into the game when he ran onto a Matt Firth pass to power over in the 46th minute.

Ashton converted from the touchline and three minutes later was on hand to scoop up a Moore off-load and dart over to make it 24-24.

Smith thought he'd grabbed the lead for the first time a few minutes later only to have put his foot in touch as he tried to squeeze over out wide.

That took the pressure off Barrow for the first time in the half. Gradually they got back into the game and were rewarded when Paul Salmon sent Ian Marsh over.

For 13 long minutes the Cougars looked for a breakthrough. Ramshaw engineered it with a sweet chip over the defence. Ashton won the race, just patting the ball onto James Rushforth who brought the house down with a 35 metre charge to the line.

Ashton converted to give the Cougars the lead for the first time, and they desperately clung on for victory.

They could quite easily have lost it though. In the dying seconds Barrow got a free kick on the Keighley line. They could have kicked the goal to level the score, instead they ran it and looked to have scored, only for Matt Leigh to lose the ball with the line at his mercy.

That was a let off the Cougars thoroughly deserved and the victory rewarded a lot of good work on and off the field. It also set them up for a spring attack on the NFP league table.

"We have started to show what we are capable of, but there is more to come," said coach Gary Moorby.