Keighley Cougars 14, Villeneuve Leopards 16.

The only real shock in this year's Silk Cut Challenge Cup fourth round was at Cougar Park yesterday.

Many people had this down as a foregone conclusion after the French side had struggled to beat amateurs Castleford Lock Lane in the previous round and Keighley had beaten Dewsbury last week in the league. Villeneuve though were working to a different script.

They were led magnificently by former Cougar favourite Grant Doorey, and the drama was written perfectly when he spun in the tackle to score the match-winning try in the 69th minute.

Since he left Keighley for the French club he has led them to two domestic championships, but this must go down as his greatest day and was a major coaching achievement.

The French side came and played basic, largely error-free rugby. They kicked high into the sun to force Cougar mistakes and reaped the reward.

They scored three tries in the first 20 minutes, and from that point on the Cougars were struggling.

Keighley coach Karl Harrison was far from impressed, saying: "We lacked intensity. The lads were not up for this game as they had been for Dewsbury last week.

"Certain people expected Villeneuve to be a pushover, but I knew them to be a good side. In the end the score flattered us - four tries to two tells the story.

"But the great thing about this game is after a bad performance you've always got another match to redeem yourselves, and where better to do that than at high-flying Doncaster Dragons next week?"

Keighley looked devoid of ideas at times and certainly missed the influence of playmaker Martin Wood. He pulled out of the game with a knee injury.

And when Jason Ramshaw limped off after 15 minutes this was clearly going to be a difficult task for the Cougars.

The French side started superbly, scoring in the fourth minute when Gilles Cornut went through Ian Hughes' tackle to score out wide.

Man-of-the-match Vincent Wolf then kicked ahead to collect and send Ludovic Perolari over again out wide, and after 12 minutes Villeneuve led 8-0.

All Keighley could manage was a Jason Lee penalty before the French side scored again. From a scrum the ball was worked wide and Pierre Sabatie stepped inside Nathan Antonik's tackle to dive over.

Keighley did manage to get a try before the break when a lovely pass from Matt Foster sent Richard Smith racing over. Lee failed to convert, but later added a penalty to make it 12-8 at the break.

However, Keighley soon took the lead. Steve Hall charged at the French line and managed to slip the ball for Phil Stephenson to dive over. Lee converted and Keighley were 14-12 up.

They should have taken control of the game, but the French side defended magnificently.

Villeneuve managed a fourth and final try with just 11 minutes left on the clock. Doorey, so popular during his time at Cougar Park, hit the Keighley line, spinning in the tackle to dive over.

Freddie Banquet again missed a conversion, but the two points were enough.

Keighley Cougars: Foster; Horne, Rushforth, Smith, Lee; Owen, Antonik; Slicker, Ramshaw, Boothroyd, Harrison, Hughes, Pickles. Subs (all used): Robinson, Hall, Stephenson, Thompson.

Villeneuve Leopards: Banquet; Perolari, Cornut, Brioux, Doste; Frayssinous, Despin; Collado, Wolf, Gaggliazzo, Doorey, Sabatie, Carrassco. Subs (all used): Bloomfield, Shead, Rinaldi, Canal.

Referee: Graham Shaw (Wigan)

KEITH REEVES

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