Oldham Roughyeds 32 Keighley Cougars 18

KEIGHLEY Cougars fell to a defeat on the road at Oldham Roughyeds after failing to recover from a slow start to the game.

Oldham scored three tries in the opening ten minutes to set themselves up for the win. They opened the scoring after the ball was worked across to Dave Eccleston on the right wing on the back of a penalty.

Lee Kershaw then cut inside to race round on his Oldham debut, although the officials seemingly missed an obstruction on Ryan Wright in the build-up.

Kershaw scored his second just moments later after Kieran Gill exposed space in the defensive line.

The Cougars would score 14 unanswered points though to go into the interval trailing by only two points.

Brad Nicholson powered his way over first after being held out just short moments before.

Matty Beharrell and Benn Hardcastle would then show superb passing, with balls flowing through hands to Josh Tonks, who stormed through to the line.

Hardcastle would then take the two points on offer after Craig Lingard made the call with less than a minute on the clock.

The first score of the second half went to Oldham after Andy Gabriel was contentiously penalised for tackling a man without the ball and from this, Gill scored after the home side found numbers on the overlap.

Paul Crook then took the two on offer from a penalty that resulted from a dropout despite Gabriel being tackled in the air in the in-goal area.

Cougars would not go down without a fight and got back into the game through Adam Ryder, as the centre raced through to cross from 20 metres out.

Tonks was then placed on report for a dangerous challenge, after him and debutant Darrell Griffin ended Adam Neal’s afternoon.

Liam Bent scored the afternoon’s final try as he crossed from close range after Gareth Owen had sold the Keighley defence a superb dummy.

Crook took another two points after Keighley were penalised for ripping the ball out before Kershaw spectacularly blew his hat-trick by incorrectly grounding the ball.

That is Keighley's third defeat of the season which leaves them in ninth place in League One. They will hope to bounce back at home to Whitehaven next Sunday.