Wath Brow Hornets 4 Keighley Cougars 10

COUGARS booked a home iPro Sport Cup quarter-final tie with Oxford following a hard-fought away victory against amateur outfit Wath Brow Hornets.

After a morning pitch inspection, the game went ahead in cold, muddy and treacherous conditions – described by Keighley's veteran half-back Paul Handforth as the worst he’s ever played in during his lengthy career.

The weather and the pitch proved to be a big leveller, with work to clear standing water going ahead up until five minutes before kick-off after heavy rainfall throughout the morning.

It meant that, despite the narrow margin of victory over the National Conference League Premier Division outfit, Cougars head coach Paul March was just pleased to get the job done.

He said: “It was a tough day, especially with the condition of the pitch when we arrived, because if this game had been played anywhere else it would have been called off.

“We did a professional job. Throughout the game we knocked our sets out and kept control of the ball and we just toughed it out in very hard conditions.

“We spoke at half-time about being professional and carrying on the job we did in the first half and I’m proud as their coach that the lads did that because it would have been easy for us to fall into a heap and think it’s going to be one of those days at the office.

“I need to give massive credit to both middle units who had to push through on this pitch, especially James Feather, who had to play the full 80 through the mud, and Brendon Rawlins who was awesome during his two stints.

“People will look at this result because it was a close game but if a Super League or a Championship club was playing here on this afternoon, it would have been the same story.”

March gave debuts to seven of his off-season recruits, while props Scott Law and Neil Cherryholme made their 150th Cougars and 150th overall career appearances respectively.

Wath Brow proved tough opponents but a professional performance from the visitors edged them out.

The Cumbrian amateur outfit made the better start, forcing silly errors in the mud to gain field advantage and put pressure on the Keighley line in the opening ten minutes.

However, Cougars finally made the game’s first breakthrough in the 24th minute when, after relentless pressure on the Wath Brow line, captain Feather broke through from dummy half to dive over next to the posts.

With the pitch deteriorating at an alarming rate, there were handling errors aplenty as the ball become slippery and the players began to sink into the mud, but Cougars scored their second try close to the hour mark.

Law marked his milestone, the day after his 31st birthday, by taking Adam Brook’s short pass and powering his way through two would-be tacklers to get over for the try from ten metres out.

The home side got back within a converted try of their semi-professional opponents seven minutes from time when, after a Luke Davison break, Paul White made a tackle in the air following Cole Walker-Taylor’s cross-field kick, with Peter Caddy picking the ball up and taking it to the line to dive in at the corner from the resulting free play.

The game ended on a sour note for Cougars, however, as Josh Lynam was carried from the field with a suspected leg injury following a dangerous tackle from Charlie Tomlinson which resulted in the Hornets’ forward being placed on report.

Cougars’ home tie with Oxford will be played on Sunday, April 3 (3pm).

Oxford got the better of Hemel Stags 34-12 in their first-round clash.

The other three ties are: Doncaster v London Skolars, Rochdale Hornets v York City Knights and University of Gloucestershire All Golds v Newcastle Thunder.