Cougar 'Rampage'

DETERMINATION shone through the eyes of Cougar pocket battleship Craig Horne as he braced himself to tackle former team mate Adrian Flynn in the second half of Sunday's classic encounter.

Seconds later Flynn crashed into the advertising boards with Horne typifying the spirit which new coach Steve Deakin has instilled into his side.

Jason Ramshaw had set up the move with a superb 70-metre kick down field which Flynn collected, and from the scrum which followed, Horne got his reward when he squeezed in for his side's fourth try.

Those three minutes of play summed up a stunning performance from the Keighley side. It was not an early-season performance with the team struggling to find match fitness and form, Deakin had them firing on all-cylinders from the first whistle and he was thrilled with his first home victory.

"I was delighted with the performance but there are 26 games to go. We're taking it one game at a time and hoping to make the play-offs," he said.

On this form they will give any team in the Northern Ford Premiership a big fright. They were determined to settle old scores and show what would have happened if they had not been robbed of home advantage against the Rams in last season's play-off competition.

They produced a six-try masterclass against the side which gave up its fight for a place in Super League despite winning last season's NFP competition and the Grand Final. Cougars beat Dewsbury in every department, their kicking game was better, the defence was magnificent and on attack their support play completely out-manouvered Dewsbury's giant pack.

Cougars never looked like losing, but Dewbury not a pushover outfit. They put Keighley under pressure and only that water-tight defence prevented them scoring. Twice attackers were held on their backs after crossing the Cougar line, but it was the home side on attack which really brought the crowd -- the biggest of the weekend -- to their feet.

Martin Wood, Jason Ramshaw and Nathan Antonik had the game almost sewn up after 30 minutes. Wood was, as ever, at the heart of everything and he engineered the first two tries.

His neat inside pass sent Ian Hughes on a 10-metre powerhouse run to the line, then wood held the ball up superbly to put James Rushforth into a gaping hole which opened up in the Rams line.

Slick handling from Ramshaw and Gary Lord sent Danny Seal scurrying over. Wood landed the conversions and after half an hour the Cougars led 18-2. All Dewsbury could manage was a single Barry Eaton penalty.

It was a fiery encounter and tempers boiled over in the 37th minute. Lord hit Paul Smith with a high tackle and the Dewsbury man bounced up with fists flailing, both men were given the red card. That seemed to calm things down and Cougars appeared to had more space to use their slick handling and ran rampant after leading 18-2 at the break.

They maintained their intensity when Horne dived over in the corner. The score was followed by two rally classy tries.

On the hour Nathan Antonik scored the try of the game, again started by Wood, his midfield break was continued by Seal who sent Antonik racing away. Seven minutes later a 70-metre break by Horne and smith set up position for Wood to put Rushforth over for his second. Wood had converted Antonik's try to give Cougars a 32-2 lead and the game was well and truly in the bag.

Rams added a late consolation try but nothing could dampen the joy of the home crowd which had been given a glimpse of hope that past glories might be on their way back to Cougar Park.

Cougars: Rushforth; Horne, Smith, Hallas, Lee, Wood, Antonik, Slicker, Ramshaw, Walker, Harrison, Hughes, Seal. Subs: Lord, Leatham, Carter, Stephenson.

Dewsbury: Graham, Godfrey, Wood, Potter, Flynn, Agar, Eaton, Long, Pachniuk, Jowitt, Richardson, Smith, Ball. Subs: Tallon, Kershaw, Spink, McDonald.