Oldham Roughyeds 31 Keighley Cougars 20

COUGARS player-coach Paul March had no complaints after his side's hopes of winning promotion at the first attempt were crushed by Oldham.

The Roughyeds edged a hard-fought encounter, with newly-crowned League One player of the year Lewis Palfrey pulling the strings in front of a record 1,405 crowd at Whitebank Stadium.

Oldham's pack were largely dominant as the host outscored Cougars by five tries to four.

March's side will now host North Wales Crusaders on Sunday in a play-off semi-final as they bid to reach the Grand Final against Swinton or York at Widnes.

It was a 14th straight win for Oldham and Cougars player-coach March admitted: "They deserved it on the day and there are no complaints from me because the best side won.

"We've got to regroup now and get ready for the North Wales game. We've just had the disappointment of watching Oldham win the trophy and get promoted, so we don't want to experience that feeling again.

"We'll be doing our best to make sure we put things right and get the promotion that we've been working hard towards all year.

"I thought our game-plan worked well to tire them out – but people need to have a look at their own performances before judging the team performance."

The Cougars were playing uphill in the first half and the hosts used the slope to their advantage as they established an 18-6 interval lead.

Keighley were missing club captain James Feather due to his wedding commitments and Oldham led when influential hooker Gareth Owen combined with Palfrey to send Jon Ford over inside the left channel.

Yet the Cougars quickly steadied themselves and hit back when Adam Mitchell's short kick was blocked and Matty Bailey was on hand to ground the loose ball.

Danny Lawton converted to level the scores – but Oldham crossed again when Adam Neal took Kenny Hughes' pass to score.

Palfrey converted to make it 12-6 and a third try arrived in the 39th minute when second-rower Danny Langtree bustled over the line from Steve Roper's short pass.

Palfrey's third conversion made it 18-6 at the break and after the restart his drop-goal attempt rebounded off a post and a desperate scramble kept Oldham out as the ball ran loose.

With player-boss March having come off the bench to orchestrate affairs, the Cougars got a lifeline in the 59th minute when, after a marauding run from Scott Law, Paul Handforth's excellent kick to the left corner was caught and grounded by Paul White.

Lawton could not convert from near to the touchline but it made things interesting at 18-10.

Yet the tide quickly turned back in Oldham's favour and another spell of sustained home pressure culminated in Palfrey sending centre George Tyson crashing over in the right corner.

Palfrey then booted a drop-goal to put Oldham further in front before Tyler Dickinson and Scott Law combined to send Handforth over the line.

Lawton converted to make it 23-16 but a penalty from Palfrey – after the Cougars were penalised for a high shot – stretched Oldham's lead.

They scored again late on when Clay touched down in the right corner from Owen's intelligent long pass and that ensured Andy Gabriel's try was mere consolation.

Oldham: Lepori 8, Clay 8, Tyson 8, Ford 7, Holmes 7, Palfrey 8, Roper 7, Neal 7, Owen 8, Joy 7, Langtree 7, Crowley 7, Hope 7. Interchange: Thompson 7, Ward 7, Files 7, Hughes 7.

Cougars: Guzdek 6, Gabriel 6, Lawton 6, R Sheriffe 5, White 6, Mitchell 6, Handforth 6, Law 7, D March 7, Dickinson 7, Pursglove 7, Rawlins 7, Lindsay 7. Interchange: Bailey 7, P March 6, Lynam 6, Tahraoui 6.