Keighley Cougars well beaten at home by Toulouse Olympique

They were facing Toulouse at Cougar Park, and slid to a 34-6 defeat against the current second-placed side.

The result leaves Cougars eighth in the 14-team table, having won four and lost five of their nine league games so far.

Keighley did well to resist relentless Toulouse pressure in the opening 10 minutes of the first half, before the away side eventually went ahead through Anthony Marion.

A brilliant break from Lewis Young allowed him to set up Luke Gale, but pressure from the visitors saw Cougars knock on with the try line beckoning.

Luke Gale had his moments on Saturday, but he was ultimately powerless to stop his side being overrun by Toulouse. (Image: Craig Irvine.)

Instead, Toulouse went further ahead through Joshua Ralph, who took in a neat short ball close to the line before going over.

Jake Shorrocks added the extras for 10-0.

The French side were held up over the line as they looked to increase their lead, before Ben Crooks dotted down from Young's kick through.

Sadly, any Cougars celebrations were cut short, as the referee ruled the former Hull Kingston Rovers man offside, meaning the hosts were left scoreless at the break.

Keighley began the second half brightly, and forced a couple of goal-line dropouts, before a Gale 40/20 pinned the French side back further.

But then Cougars' top try scorer Robbie Storey was unable to collect an attacking pass, and Toulouse raced away with the ball down the left, Reuben Rennie crossing the line for their third try.

Shorrocks knocked over the conversion for 16-0 and five minutes later it got worse for Keighley.

Ralph went over for his second try of the game, and Shorrocks nailed the extras to make the score 22-0.

Half-back Joshua Ralph was a real thorn in Keighley's side, crossing the line to score twice on Saturday. (Image: Craig Irvine.)

Cougars got themselves on the scoreboard soon after, after good combination work from Lloyd Roby and Gale put in Aaron Levy for a try.

Dane Chisholm converted the score to give the home side a chance at 22-6 down.

But Toulouse quickly snuffed out the Cougars threat, as they scored after forcing Crooks behind his posts for a goal-line dropout.

Maxime Stefani was the man who went over for Toulouse’s fifth try, with Shorrocks converting to put the away side 28-6 ahead.

Toulouse compounded Keighley’s misery on the final hooter as a miscommunication between Young and Storey saw the ball fumbled.

Guy Armitage scooped up the loose ball and strolled in for another try for the visitors.

Shorrocks converted once again to wrap up a fairly comfortable win for the French outfit, who have now won seven of their nine league games.

It was a routine win for Toulouse, but this Aaron Levy try at least ensured the home side did not go scoreless. (Image: Craig Irvine.)

Cougars’ next game sees them visit Batley in the Challenge Cup fifth round.

Rhys Lovegrove’s side will be hoping for revenge, as the Bulldogs won 28-23 when the sides met at Mount Pleasant in the league at the end of February, the hosts snatching victory in the dying moments of the game.

Then comes the international break, meaning Keighley are not back in league action until Sunday, May 7, when they trek to Cumbria to take on fellow mid-table side Whitehaven.