Cougars 27, Doncaster Dragons 30 - COUGAR fans had to endure another spectacular second half collapse - which was just as bad as the 36-28 defeat by Leigh way back in March.

After 45 minutes Keighley led 24-2 and the game looked in the bag, but errors proved costly and could prove even costlier in deciding the play-off positions early next month.

At times Cougars looked back to their best with a dazzling first half display. They soaked up intense Dragons pressure with a rock solid tackling stint in the first 20 minutes and followed up with scintillating performances on attack.

But the contrast been that display, which left Doncaster in a daze, and the final 30 minutes made the disappointment even harder to bear.

At their best Cougars were simply superb. Nathan Antonik and Danny Seal both found gaps in the Dragons defence with ease after they had survived an early battering. But at their worst the Keighley side were terrible, failing to secure a game which was theirs for the taking.

Martin Wood was marked out of most of the game, and singled out for rough treatment from the Doncaster forwards, but Jason Ramshaw stepped up a gear with another inspirational performance.

The Cougars looked vulnerable again up front. Steve Hall returned but couldn't take on a very physical Doncaster pack alone. He became a human punchbag and missed the backed up of Alan Boothroyd, still recovering from injury, and the suspended Phil Stephenson.

Once Seal had been substituted Doncaster forwards began to find more space, and by the time he returned it was too late.

Doncaster took an early lead through a Steve Booth penalty, but apart from a disallowed Jamie Leighton try it was all Cougars.

Antonik popped up for the first try. A great break by Seal took him to the posts and quick passing from Ramshaw and Wood gave Antonik all the pace he needed to force his way over.

Jason Lee grabbed the second racing on to a ball from Ramshaw after Hallas was held on the line. Wood failed with both difficult conversions, but landed an easy penalty in the 35th minute.

Antonik grabbed his second on the stroke of half time with Wood adding the extras with the final kick before the break, to give Keighley a 16-2 lead.

Wood added another penalty immediately after the re-start and five minutes later he added the conversion to James Rushforth's try, a simple run in after Karl Smith had timed a perfect tackle as Fata Sini attempted to collect Ramshaw's high kick.

With a 24-2 lead it was time for Cougars to take a deep breath, calm down and keep possession. They needed to play out their sets of six tackles, follow up with a deep kick and contain the Dragons.

But from the kick off they discovered a chink in the Cougar armour. Wood tried to force a late pass to Mick Sicker who dropped the ball and Rob Wilson jinked over, with Booth converting.

Wood added a penalty before Doncaster really got back into the game, their second coming from a Craig Weston kick which bounced up between hesitant defenders for Booth to nip in and race over.

Ramshaw added a drop goal which looked like an insurance policy, just in case rather than any real fear of Doncaster getting close.

But another kick hypnotised the Cougars. Booth collected his own bomb and threw an optimistic pass out to winger Neil Bennett, who was playing Conference League rugby with Lock Lane two months ago. He kicked ahead twice to beat Antonik under the posts. Both tries were converted an at 27-20 that drop kick was looking ever more important.

And it got worse.

Bennett raced in off Booth to make it 27-24 and with eight minutes left wood delayed a pass just too long. What would have been a certain try for Jason Lee was intercepted by Bennett who raced away, and not even Lee could get near him as he raced the length of the field. Booth converted to complete the scoring.

Cougars desperately tried to rescue the game -- and their pride.

Wood was held on his back over the line. Seal returned to go close twice and Ramshaw looked to have put Paul Owen over out wide only for a miraculous tackle from Carl Hall to haul him down.

The chance was gone and so was the game. Hopefully Cougars can secure the final eight points on offer and prepare for a tough few games in the play-offs.

Cougars: Hanger; Rushworth, Karl Smith, Hallas, Lee; Seal, Antonik; Hall, Ramshaw, Slicker, Harrison, Hughes, Wood. Subs (all used): Owen, Walker, Hannah, Pickles.

Doncaster: Booth; Bennett, Hall, Bunyan, Sini; Parker, Tawhai, Amone, Edwards, Berry, Wilson, Leighton, Miller. subs (all used): Weston, Richards, Alexander, Morgan.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.