JOSH Lynam’s dramatic try at the death saw Keighley Cougars snatch a 24-22 victory at home to North Wales Crusaders in Betfred League One.

Craig Lingard's side trailed 16-10 at the break and when Callum Hazard went over for a try to put the Welsh visitors 22-18 up with 15 minutes to go, a defeat looked on the cards.

But Cougars snatched victory as Lynam found his way over the line with three minutes remaining. Benn Hardcastle converted to grab the win and move Keighley on to minus seven following their 12-point deduction before the start of the season.

However, Lingard was positively disappointed following the result.

“At times it was frustrating,” admitted the Cougars head coach.

“The processes we had worked on all week in training was right, but the execution was poor. We gave up too many cheap possession in our own half and that was pretty disappointing.

“The turning point of the game was the Steve Roper sin-binning and that created a lot more space for us to attack.

“It always seems to be this way when we play North Wales where there is plenty of late drama but they are a team that are in a false position.

“We knew though that this would be a tough game and that is how it planned out.”

North Wales thought they had opened the scoring through Gavin Conroy but his try was disallowed for a forward pass in the build-up.

Cougars then found themselves trailing by eight points after former Keighley man Ben Stead converted a penalty attempt before Conroy pounced on a Karl Ashall grubber.

Keighley came roaring back into the game though and closed the gap to two points as Harvey Hallas carried a defender over the line with him to get the try.

The visitors re-opened their advantage when Matt Welham spilled a Stead grubber, allowing the half-back to pounce on the loose ball.

Lingard’s side then got back into the game once more as the Crusaders left open a bus-sized gap on the line from which Lynam took full advantage to dive over.

Crusaders, however, took a six-point lead into the interval after Stead opted to take the two on offer once more after a penalty on the line.

The second-half began with a lengthy stoppage as Cougars’ Wakefield loanee Lewis Wray was stretchered from the field with a neck injury after appearing to be on the end of a third-man crusher tackle following a late hit from Brad Brennan that saw the forward placed on report.

Thankfully after being taken to hospital for further evaluation, Wray’s injury was not as bad as first feared and he was discharged from hospital that night.

From the restart, the pure adrenaline in Cougars veins carried them through to level the game. After Aaron Levy was held up, Dan Parker handed off the defender to get over the line.

The home side then took the lead for the first time. After Hardcastle had hit the uprights with his first penalty attempt, he made no mistake with the second after Simon Atherton was penalised for a hit on Levy.

But, the Welsh outfit regained the lead when Ashall broke through the defensive line and put the ball on a plate for the supporting Hazzard to race round beneath the sticks.

Crusaders were reduced to 12 men with six minutes still remaining on the clock when Steve Roper was sent to the sin-bin for a shoulder charge on Alfie Seeley.

And Cougars capitalised as Lynam sent the crowd wild on the back of a superb 40-20 from Hardcastle.

PLAYER RATINGS:

COUGARS: Welham 6; Dixon 5; Cooke 5; Hallett 5; Seeley 6; Miller 5; Hardcastle 6; Bailey 7; Feather 8; Hallas 7; Lynam 7; Levy 6; Beckett 5. Subs: Coventry 7; Gaylor 5; Parker 6; Wray 5.

CRUSADERS: Price 5; Conroy 6; Atherton 6; Hurst 5; Massam 6; Roper 5; Stead 7; Hazzard 5; Ashall 6; W Thompson 7; Houghton 5; Wild 5; Baker 6. Subs: A Thompson 5; Brennan 6; Eckley 5; Worrall 5.

COUGARS: Tries: Hallas (16); Lynam (29, 77); Parker (47). Goals: Hardcastle (4/6)

CRUSADERS: Tries: Conroy (12); Stead (24); Hazzard (65). Goals: Stead (5/5). Sin Bin: Roper (74 – Shoulder Charge). On Report: Brennan (45 – Crusher Tackle)

ATTENDANCE: 859

REFEREE: Andy Sweet (Castleford)