Keighley Cougars 48, Rochdale Mayfield 2; by Keith Reeves.

Keighley Cougars at last got into their attacking stride with a nine-try victory over amateurs Mayfield.

There could have been many more, but for a few late handling errors by the cavalier Cougars, but that would have been a little unjust on the Rochdale side, who never threw in the towel.

They deserve great credit for their commitment, especially after the 23rd- minute dismissal of Paul Higginson for a late, high tackle on Jason Lee.

That made an uphill struggle even more mountainous task, but they really battled to keep the score down.

Keighley, though, never hit top gear - they didn't have to - but this performance encouraged them to add flair to their impressive defensive performances in pre-season.

Jason Ramshaw was an inspirational skipper for Cougars. He led from start to finish and, as well as scoring a hat-trick of tries, had a hand in at least another three, and could easily have scored more himself.

Matthew Foster also looked impressive from full back, making yard after yard as he scythed his way through Mayfield's struggling defence, and it was something of a surprise that he ended up with only one try.

Cougars got off to a flier when a smart pass from David Larder put Jason Lawrence through in the fourth minute. Ramshaw followed five minutes later and, with Nathan Antonik converting both, Cougars were looking good.

Mayfield fought their way back into the game and adjusted to the pace quite well, but all they could manage was a John O'Donovan penalty in the 18th minute.

There was never a turning point, but the dismissal of Higginson had a huge impact and made his fellow Mayfield forwards work doubly hard to contain Cougars, who seemed to score at will when they put their foot on the gas.

That's exactly what they did after the dismissal. Immediately from the penalty restart Foster raced 35 metres to touch down in the corner.

Antonik then followed up a break by Ramshaw, and the skipper added his second just before half-time, both tries being converted to make the score 28-2 at the break.

Two quick Cougar tries came early in he second half, Pat Rich finishing off some impressive handling, then Ramshaw grabbing his hat-trick try after he and Antonik had kicked ahead.

But then Keighley eased off. Mayfield rarely looked like scoring, even though skipper Lee Durrant had crossed the whitewash after 30 minutes, only to be turned on his back.

In the second half they had impressive breaks from Graham Burke and Joe Graziano, who went close late on, but other than that the Cougars defence looked impenetrable.

They finished on a high with two late tries. Lee went over in the corner and could have had a second, then Ramshaw and Paul Owen combined to send Chris Robinson racing in under the posts, Antonik's sixth conversion completing the scoring.

The real business - as the Cougars see it - starts next Sunday with a home league fixture against Doncaster, and this will have been a useful attacking work-out for Keighley as they prepare to impress this season.

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