Keighley Cougars 24, Widnes Vikings 22.

Cougars came out on top of a thriller, despite two late tries from Widnes sub Gareth Adams. And they just about deserved it after out-scoring Widnes five tries to three. Once Cougars had gone in front early in the second half, they always looked in control, but Widnes would not throw in the towel.

Cougars coach Lee Crooks said: "It was a bit too close for comfort at the end, but I was pleased in most parts with our game, and thought this was our best performance of the season. The disappointing thing was I thought we had the game wrapped up twice near the end with an eight-point lead, but both times we let Widnes back through lack of concentration and poor ball control."

Crooks was impressed with man of the match Christian Tyrer. His superb kicking set up three tries and he scored one himself under the posts.

The coach said: "Christian has always had a superb kicking game and he has worked very hard on his all-round performance after a poor start to the season. I'm pleased for him."

It was Tyrer who masterminded a flying start for the Cougars. A neat chip-kick to the corner was collected by Jason Lee, who opened the scoring in the second minute. But a pattern was set when Damion Munro raced 80 metres four minutes later to reply for Widnes, Mark Hewitt's conversion giving them a lead he soon extended with a 30-metre penalty.

Cougars hit back with a second try for Lee, this time off a Tyrer grubber kick, and the scores were level. However, Hewitt gave Widnes a 10-8 lead at the break when he used the wind to full advantage to land a superb 48-metre kick.

Playing down the slope and with the strong wind behind them, Keighley always looked capable of winning. They more than matched Widnes up front, with local hero Steve Hall leading the charge.

Cougars soon got the breakthrough they needed, a neat short pass from Martin Wood sending Nathan Antonik racing through for their third try which was again to far out for Wood to convert.

Keighley looked to have the game won when Tyrer dived on his own short kick to score their fourth try under the posts, leaving Wood a simple conversion. But then Adams started the Widnes fightback, pouncing on a Hewitt kick for a converted try which set up a thrilling final 15 minutes.

Keighley then got the try of the game, a beautifully lofted Tyrer kick to the corner being perfectly judged by Matt Foster who raced overt, Wood converting. A couple of errors and penalties handed Widnes the initiative, Adams forcing his way over in the 73rd minute, and Hewitt converting.

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