COUGAR fans were put through agony -- and sent into ecstasy -- as their team put on a Jeckyl and Hyde display of epic proportions against Batley.

In the first half they were woeful and looked to be on the end on a huge hammering, before clawing their way back to an impressive victory. Coach Karl Harrison walked to the Mount Pleasant changing room in a far from happy mood at half time, but what happened behind closed doors had a dramatic effect.

"I didn't say anything -- I just went for a cup of coffee," Harrison claimed. But he added: "What I really said will remain a trade secret. I just made it clear they had put in a massive defensive stint and needed to relax. What was important was that we had to score first after the break."

Bulldogs piled up an 18-4 lead in the opening 40 minutes without doing anything special. they played solid, grafting, rugby which put pressure on a Keighley defence which at times looked to lack discipline and control. High balls tested fullback Richard Smith and after missing two simple chances it was clear they would be hammering them in his direction all afternoon.

Other errors handed a staggering amount of possession to Bulldogs who totally dominated the half. Cougars were forced to put in a monumental defensive effort and Harrison had to switch two of his big forwards early in the game.

"We had to make about 100 more tackles than we would do in a normal game, and that takes a tremendous amount of effort," he said.

The most optimistic of Cougar fans could cling to the fact that their side's scoring ratio had been good. With only three attacks in the half they had at least crossed the whitewash from one of them. From another Keighley kick-off Gary Barnett spilled the ball and from the scrum Richard Smith flipped the ball wide to Craige Horne who cut inside, jinking his way to the line.

Before that it had seemed an ever-deepening nightmare for the hundreds of travelling fans. Graham Middleton went over with ease in the eighth minute to set the Batley ball rolling. Ten minutes later Wayne Flynn collected a loose ball to race 20 metres down the right wing with Richard Price adding the conversion and a drop goal.

Nick Simpson raced 40 metres before Sending Middleton over for his second, Price added a penalty and Barnett had all the time in the world to slot over another drop goal.

The Batley kick-off was fumbled and there was a despairing sigh from the packed rank of Cougar fans, but the tied turned and Harrison's side ran rampant bagging four tries and having two others disallowed. Jason Lee, Craig Horne and particularly Nathan Antonik ran Batley ragged from midfield.

Former Batley man Paul Harrison gave Keighley the perfect start when he finished off a three-man move started by Karl Smith and Lee 70 metres back up field, with James Rushforth giving Harrison the final pass. Wood converted and at 18-10 Keighley were back in the game.

Another Lee break led directly to the next try. Again the Welsh wizard looked certain to score, but was stopped by Craig Lingard. From the play-the-ball Cougars went wide where Horne put Steve Pickles over with a deceptive pass out of the tackle right on the line. Wood again converted.

Paul Owen went close, Wood had a try disallowed and Antonik was held on the line. Now it was the Batley fans who were biting their nails, particularly after Cougars took the lead for the first time.

Antonik broke from inside his own half and found Wood. He was tackled on the line and flipped the ball backwards where a grateful Paul Owen was on hand to collect. Wood converted to make it 22-18.The final decisive try came 12 minutes from time when Ian Hughes capped an impressive performance with another well taken try. He took an inside pass from Wood and powered through four would-be defenders to seal victory.

Cougar fans also found a replacement for long time hero Ian Gately -- at last -- young prop Mick Slicker showed the same ability to offload in the tackle. The 21-year-old's passes were crucial in breaking down the Batley defence, and just what the fans love to see.

Batley Bulldogs: Lingard; flynn, Kimmel, Simpson, Gledhill; Price, G Barnett, Luckwell, Clarke, Hicks, Moxon, Middleton, S Barnett. Subs (all used): Cass, Miers, Padgett, Wray.

Cougars: R Smith, Horne, Rushworth, K Smith, Lee; Wood, Robinson; Hall, Antonik, Stephenson, Harrison, Hughes, Pickles. Subs (all used) Owen, Walker, Boothroyd, Slicker.

Referee: Colin Morris (Southport).

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