North Wales Crusaders 22 Keighley Cougars 30

KEIGHLEY Cougars kept pace with the League One front-runners with a hard-fought win in Wrexham, which was built on a solid first-half defensive display.

Cougars' second successive league win – and their third in all competitions since losing to London Skolars – left them three points behind leaders Toulouse, who they visit on Saturday, and just a point below Rochdale and York.

Head coach Paul March said: “We had a high completion rate in the first half and we only failed to complete one set, where we knocked on, which took a lot of energy out of North Wales.

“The weather in the second half was terrible; the rain just kept getting heavier and it made it very difficult for both sides, which showed as we came up with individual errors which cost us tries.

“All the lads stood up to be counted on both sides in terrible conditions but we had done enough in the first half to get the win.

“We now have a big week ahead before we head to France because in this division, games don’t get any tougher than the trip to Toulouse.”

The Crusaders defence was forced to hold strong in the opening five minutes after two sloppy handling errors gave Cougars great field position. They kept Paul Handforth out before the Welsh side broke the deadlock themselves in the 11th minute.

On the back of a scrum, they worked the ball across to the left-hand channel where Rob Massam fended off Paul White to dive in at the corner.

Keighley hit back eight minutes later as they trapped Crusaders in their own half and, from the turnover, Charlie Martin was held up over the line. The ball was moved quickly and Adam Brook’s offload out of the tackle freed space in the line from which Scott Law crashed over.

And the visitors took the lead when, after North Wales gave away a silly penalty for pushing on the last tackle, Handforth got the short offload away to Law, who skipped round an opponent to get in underneath the posts for his second of the afternoon.

Penalties were proving a problem for the home side and it cost them when, after a challenge in the air, Paul White offloaded to Vinny Finigan, who flicked the ball back for Rikki Sheriffe to somehow touch down despite having his back to the line.

Crusaders got off to the best possible start in the second half. On the back of a knock-on, Ross Peltier was penalised for holding in the tackle and Anthony Murray’s side worked the ball across the wide pitch to Stuart Reardon who, with a quick swerve of the hips, freed himself to score.

The second half proved a tighter affair than the first, with the home side looking more potent in attack. Adam Brook’s decision to take two points on the back of a penalty for offside proved wise as he converted from thirty metres out.

As weather conditions worsened, the visitors restored their two-try advantage as Tommy Johnson knocked on under pressure and, from the free play, Matthew Bailey offloaded to Sheriffe, who strolled over for his second of the afternoon.

Crusaders used the slippery surface to their advantage as Billy Brickhill broke from Scott Turner’s pass and momentum from the turf carried him under the posts for the try.

With the rain getting heavier, Cougars were awarded a penalty just to the left of the posts and Brook converted.

Keighley secured the two points with eight minutes left when captain James Feather squeezed his way over from the play-the-ball.

But the home side had the final say when the conditions underfoot caught Cougars out and winger Turner pounced for the try.