Keighley Cougars Reserves edged out by Halifax in thriller

Keighley opened the scoring as Vinny Finigan raced down the left flank to cross in the corner.

Halifax took charge as Sion Jones powered his way through but they fell behind when the ball came loose and Harry Aaronson showed great footwork to dazzle the defence.

Alex Mammone restored the visitors' slender advantage but in the final ten minutes of the first half, the Cougars scored twice more to have the upper hand at the interval.

Aiden Scully dived on to a grubber kick from Aaronson, with Finigan scoring his second, sliding over on the back of great link-up play between James Pickering and Dane Weatherill.

The second half saw Halifax race out the blocks, scoring five tries in a 20-minute blitz.

Joslin Landu crashed over and minutes later, Martin Gonzalez’s side really turned the screw as a kick from Luke Nelmes caused confusion in the defence with Liam Bent the quickest to pounce.

And following the restart, ill-discipline within the Keighley ranks allowed their opposition to work their way down the field with Chester Butler rounding a would-be tackler to race over and extend his side's lead.

Going down the hill, Halifax went over once more on the hour as Martyn Reilly handed off his marker to power over underneath the uprights.

Jamie Stringer worked his way in at the corner flag but Cougars sprung into life to make a game of it.

Joe Newell sparked the fire, intercepting a Fax grubber and racing the length of the field to dive over and, on the back of a penalty, Callum Dunne turned through a tackle to score against his former side.

Ash Hutchinson pounced on a kick into the in-goal area to close the gap to two points but the referee controversially blew up early with time still remaining on the clock.

COUGARS: Aaronson, Barker, Scully, Dunne, Finigan, Payton, Smithson, Harlow-Stephenson, Kitson, Cherryholme, McGuigan, Pickering, Walters. Subs: Davey, Yarrow, Weatherill, Brown, Newell, Hutchinson, Hawthorne.