Sheffield Eagles 35, Keighley Cougars 14: Schoolboy errors robbed Keighley Cougars of sweet revenge yesterday as the Sheffield Eagles soared once more.

Returning to the scene of January's 60-0 massacre, a young Keighley side put up a much stronger fight but ultimately suffered their fourth defeat in a row.

The Buddies National League Cup play-offs are now out of reach as the inexperienced Cougars could manage only a 35-14 defeat on a sunny day at the Don Valley Stadium.

The only thing coach Gary Moorby left with was a selection headache as experienced prop Phil Stephenson retired with a suspected fractured cheekbone.

And with aggressive stand-off Paul Ashton unavailable due to work commitments, Moorby will be left with just 16 fit players ahead of Wednesday's visit of Featherstone.

"It was a better performance, but I just want this cup out the way," said Moorby, whose first game in charge was January's drubbing.

"I really don't want to have to play the Featherstone and Gateshead games. I just want to get them out the way so we can concentrate on rebuilding for the return to the season in June.

"I don't know where we are going to get 17 players from for Wednesday. Losing Stephenson is a massive blow for us."

On the pitch, the Cougars started brightly enough, strong running by Oliver Wilkes and the impressive Simeon Hoyle putting the Eagles under the pressure.

But when Billy Kershaw took advantage of some weak tackling, Wayne Flynn burst through to open the home account.

What Moorby described as "dumb football" let in replacement Andy Brent for a 60-yard interception try, giving the home side a 10-0 lead within 18 minutes.

But Jason Ramshaw's understudy Hoyle ensured there was no repeat of the winter drubbing picking up a clever off-load from the impressive Danny Fearon to dash over from ten yards.

As in the last four games, the Cougars failed to shore up before the interval, with the last event of an entertaining 40 minutes being a chance for Matt Foster to score against his old club.

Again, similar to recent defeats, the floodgates remained open for the beginning of the second half, with full back Andy Poynter, Brent and Simon Tillyer rushing in to give the Eagles a lift.

Powerhouse winger Max Tomlinson, playing his first game of the season, made a welcome return from a hand injury, dashing over in the 62nd minute.

But even a Chris Wainwright try, after a clever chip chick from the energetic Mattie Firth, was not even to bring salvation.

"It was much improved," added Moorby. "But I just want to start again in June."

No doubt the fans can't wait for that month either.