Keighley prop Gary Lord will take his one-match ban on the chin despite "some surprise" in the Cougars camp that an opposition player sent off with him has escaped punishment.

Lord will miss the Christmas Eve trip to Gateshead and has been fined £100 for a careless high tackle during the Cougars' win over Dewsbury Rams a fortnight ago.

But Rams forward Paul Smith will be free to play in his side's Heavy Woollen derby against Batley on Boxing Day despite being found guilty of striking Lord in the scuffle which ensued.

Cougars coach Steve Deakin said: "The referee's report stated that Gary's action was reckless but we always maintained it was more of a careless challenge. He also caught the Dewsbury player with his shoulder and not his forearm as the referee said.

"But in all the circumstances Gary will not be appealing, I am just a bit surprised that no action was taken against the Dewsbury player."

Meanwhile Deakin is set to welcome back second-row forward Ian Hughes for the 12.30pm kick-off at the Gateshead International Stadium.

"Ian had been complaining a little about a slight groin problem and when we saw the pitch at York was a bit icy we decided it wasn't worth risking him."

Last season's skipper Alan Boothroyd is also pushing for his first senior call-up of the season after work commitments forced him to return to training late.

Deakin was also keeping a close eye on the fringe players in last night's Alliance meeting with Hunslet before naming his 18-man squad to face the re-formed Thunder who have lost all three games so far this term.

Centre Matt Foster staked his claim for a senior recall as he opened the scoring in the Cougars 40-0 win.

Star of the show Foster had two others disallowed after being held up over the line, one after a 90-metre run.

Bingley-based trialist prop Lee Bowyer also made an immediate impact with two late tries after coming off the bench.

The Cougars other tries came from Chris Wainwright, Carlos Sanchez, John Simeonovitch and Craig Robinson who also landed six goals to make it three wins out of three for Paul Moses' side.