Cougars 28 Barrow Raiders 15 - COUGARS kept their 100 per cent record after toughing it out with Barrow in a game which was never pretty - and at times got down right ugly.

The Raiders were determined to stop the Cougars from playing their open running rugby, and it was always going to be a tough encounter.

The last time they met Barrow ran up a 52-10 victory, but the Cougars have matured since that meeting last September and had the quality to score four tries in a 19-minute burst that was enough to win the game.

The defence of Moorby's young side is solid enough to hold out under brutal pressure, and that is just what they did in the second half. Their 22-3 half-time lead was enough to ensure victory.

Barrow led 3-0 after pounding the Cougar line with heavy early pressure. Their leader Tana Manihera slotted a field goal after landing a penalty, but was just wide with a second drop goal.

The tactic was clearly designed to keep Keighley off the ball, and it worked. Barrow enjoyed five of the first eight sets of play, and in the blistering heat it could have worked.

But they reckoned without Matty Firth and Jason Ramshaw who used their ability to get the ball wide quickly to beat the Barrow defence for the first three tries.

The first Cougar try came from a quick crossfield move followed by a flash of quality from Matt Foster. He was sent away by Ramshaw and created the space for Oliver Wilkes to romp home from 35 metres out.

The second try followed more good work from Foster, whose break was finished over by his namesake Dave, who powered home off an Adam Mitchell pass. The stand-off landed his second converstion to give Cougars a 12-3 lead.

It got even better from the kick-off, after two drives the ball was mvoed wide and Wilkes sent Andy Robinson on a 70-metre sprint to the corner.

At this point the Cougars were firmly in control and it was crucial that they turned the domination into a match winning lead at the break.

They needed a fourth try, and got one in the 35th minute when a superb grubber kick from Ramsahw was pounced on by Firth and Mitchell converted to make it 22-3 at the break.

The second half was a grim affair with the forwards battling it out for supremacy.

During half time the Barrow side had clearly been told they needed to take care of play-makers Firth and Ramshaw who were repeatedly taken out with blatant late tackles which went largely unpunished, andoften unnotiched by Super League referee Colin Presley. Ultimately Ramshaw had to leave the field after yet another late hit from Barrow prop Tau Liku and Keighley certainly missed his guiding hand in the closing stages.

In a kind of retribution Ollie Wilkes knocked a tooth out of Aussie prop James King, who spent the rest of the game trying to exact revenge on the tough Cougar second row man

giving Keighley two penalties in the process.

Manihera tried to play football and created two tries at either end of the half for his Barrow side. Three times he was involved in moves up the right, finished off by Jamie Smith in the 42nd minute.

Two minutes from time his neat inside pass sent Smith in for his second, and manihera converted both to complete the scoring.

Earlier Cougars had made certain of scoring when First put Chris Wainwright into a half-gap and his searing acceleration did the rest. Mitchell failed with the conversion, but he had kicked an earlier penalty.