Cougars 0, St Gaudens 24 - Cougars were out-played, out-run and out-thought by a French team - which most people expected to provide Keighley with an easy passage - who made their way into the next round of the Challenge Cup.

But throughout St Gaudens displayed better handling skills and more determination. Although Cougars got themselves into position to score more than enough points to secure victory, they have yet to master the art of keeping possession of the ball at vital moments.

To be cruelly honest the game was over in the first 15 minutes. By then the French were 8-0 up, and well on top. Jason Ramshaw had gone off with a repeat of the shoulder injury which had kept him out of action for two games, and the Cougars already looked a beaten side.

All St Gaudens did was play well-drilled basic rugby league. It was very simple - and very effective.

Their huge pack drove up the middle of the field, then spun the ball out to the wings easily, out-pacing Keighley's struggling defence.

Their first try was text-book rugby. The Cougars made a blunder on their third play-the-ball, Saints collected from the scrum and drove forward twice before passing the ball out to the right where a three man overlap left them spoilt for choice. Full back Julien Servin took the opportunity to race in with ease.

Ten minutes later an Aussie one-two created their second try. Anthony Golders tossed an inside pass to the huge Bradley Middlebosch who powered over the line and left Jason Ramshaw in agony on the ground.

It didn't get any better for the Cougars. They had two half chances both of which came to nothing. Paul Ashton just failed to race round the French defence and Simeon Hoyle made a great break from acting half, but his pass sailed behind the supporting Craig Morphet and the chance was gone.

Danny Halliwell was sin-binned after repeatedly being caught offside and in the 10 minutes he was off St Gaudens bagged three more tries to effectively end the game as a contest.

Foucade Abasse raced through three Cougar defenders with alarming ease on a speedy run down the wing.

Man of the match - and a third Aussie - Chris St Clair, ghosted through on the Cougar right to finish off a five-man move.

With four minutes to the break powerful centre Claude Servin finished off some slick crossfield passing with a 10 metre run to the line.

Luckily for the Cougars the French had forgotten their kicking cone or the scoreline could have been far worse.

The 20-0 half time lead they had handed to the French team was too steep a hill to climb after the break. They did at least step up a gear in the second period with subs Hoyle, Craig Morphet and Adam Mitchell also impressing as they try to earn a starting shirt.

They were a little unlucky not to get onto the scoresheet. Oliver Wilkes was held up over the line and Matty Firth just failed to collect his brilliant kick through as it bounced back off the upright.

But the French had the final word. They looked to have shut up shop, playing 'power' rugby to contain the Cougars, but every time they threw the ball wide they looked dangerous. Abbasse raced in for his second, completely wrong-footing Karl Smith and Adam Mitchell as he angled his run off the touchline.

The Cougar coaches couldn't be blamed for the defeat. The squad they inherited is too small numerically and physically. Although they knew what the French would do, ultimately there was nothing they could do to stop their cup progress.

Coach Gary Moorby struggled to find any positive aspects from the game. "We had taken a step forward against Feathertone, but this was two steps back again.

"The French outfit were very big and prevented our half-back combination from getting going, but I'm sure we will move forward again in the coming weeks. Our free weekend will give us an opportunity to do extra work in training," he said.