Keighley Cougars Reserves 22, Leigh Reserves 34

SCOTT Lindsey praised the character of a young Keighley reserve side as they slipped to a heartbreaking defeat against defending champions Leigh at Cougar Park.

"I'm proud of all 17 lads who were out there," said coach Lindsey. "The forward pack dominated throughout against experienced players and I thought Ross Peltier was the best forward on the field.

"In the first half I thought the referee was outstanding but in the second he tried to level the game out a little. But for me, we didn't deserve to lose."

The Cougars raced into a 12-point lead when Peltier, on his return from injury, powered over next to the posts despite the attentions of a number of Leigh defenders.

In a tightly-fought opening 40, it was nearly a half hour later when Liam Darville stretched out his arm to get the ball down on the line.

Leigh pulled a try back shortly before the interval when Josh Swift pounced on a loose ball in the corner.

Keighley opened the second half with Martyn Broadley pouncing on the ball from a Darville kick which took a wicked deflection off the uprights.

The visitors then levelled the scores thanks to two quick tries, with Warburton going in under the posts before Swift dived over in the corner for his second of the evening.

Joe Brier restored the home side's advantage again when he broke down the left wing to touch down.

But Leigh took the lead for the first time just 90 seconds later as former Cougars player Oliver Wilkes took advantage of a handling error to score.

The referee then took centre stage, first overruling his touch judge to award Leigh a penalty from which Swift grabbed his hat-trick.

Then with five minutes remaining, Jonny Walker thought he had scored and released the ball – but the official ruled he had been held short and, instead of awarding a scrum, allowed a play the ball from which Ashley Jukes dived over.