Cougars 28, Swinton 18 - COUGAR pocket battleship Paul Ashton drove the side to victory over Swinton Lions with a bagful of points - and a determined performance.

The scrum half was on top form to snatch a try, kick seven goals and add a drop goal to secure a personal tally of 19 points as the Keighley side took revenge for their 33-6 defeat in March.

Since then Ashton has matured as a player while the rest of the team has grown in stature, ability and confidence. But despite his man of the match performance Ashton will suffer when he watches the game on video and realises how many more chances were thrown away.

Despite the missed opportunities the well drilled Cougar side were in charge for 70 of the 80 minutes.

Again they missed Simeon Hoyle, but Chris Hartley enjoyed another superb game as stand-in hooker and got the team off to a great start when he burst over for a try from acting half after just four minutes. Ashton converted and added a penalty to make it 8-0.

Swinton hit back after Cougars had conceded two penalties with Phil Cushion crashing over.

It should have been a try at the other end. The otherwise superb Ashton coughed a gilt-edged chance after Matty Firth's break, then he threw a wild interception before lashing out as he tackled Lee Hudson to concede the penalty that put Swinton in control for the first time in the game.

He made amends when he scored in off a superbly timed Phil Stephenson pass, then put James Rushforth through a gap for the third try. Ashton added both conversions and slotted a second penalty as Cougars built what turned out to be a game winning lead.

The Lions dragged themselves back into the game with a second try on the 31st minute. More Cougar indiscipline set up Johnson to dummy his way over, but with Mick Nanyn having a rare off day with the boot they trailed 22-10 at the break.

The second half was unspectacular to say the least.

It was 14 minutes before a point was added, Ashton landing another penalty. Five minutes later Andy Leatham was sin-binned, Ashton adding the resultant penalty, but the Cougars didn't look like scoring more tries despite their numerical advantage.

Instead they saw a mini-revival from Swinton as two tries in two minutes put the tiring Cougar defence under pressure. Jamie Stenhouse and Lee Hudson went over, but they were too far out for Nanyn to convert.

Keighley's 26-18 lead was further stretched, first by Danny Fearon's well worked field goal, and then by Ashton who added a second as the clock ticked down.

The game was not the greatest spectacle ever seen at Cougar Park - it was deadly dull at times - but Cougars did everything they had to do to win.

They are learning every week and against a bigger, more experienced, side they looked the more professional and certainly the better prepared.