KEIGHLEY Cougars have been relegated from the Betfred Championship in dramatic circumstances.
Just a year after being League 1 invincibles, and having had a stellar off-season in which they made marquee signings like Luke Gale and Ben Crooks, they find themselves back in the third tier.
With Whitehaven losing 26-16 at home to Toulouse on Saturday, Swinton and Keighley knew a win yesterday would keep them up.
And the Lions managed that, with a magnificent performance seeing them down Halifax 22-12, also denying the West Yorkshire side a play-off place in the process.
The margin of Whitehaven’s defeat meant Cougars would still stay up if they lost by five points or less away to London Broncos yesterday afternoon.
Things looked good at half-time, with Keighley 10-0 up, and though London hit back to lead 20-10, a converted try for the visitors on the hour mark put them just four behind.
But the Broncos scored another try with eight minutes to go, and that proved fatal for Keighley, who were unable to respond.
It means the Cougars drop into League 1 alongside Newcastle, a situation that seemed unthinkable in May after they had won five of their first 10 Championship games.
But after the shock sacking of Rhys Lovegrove, big-name players like Gale, Crooks, Dane Chisholm and Brenden Santi leaving en masse, and a shocking mid-season run that saw the lose 10 games out of 11, Cougars tumbled down the table.
Yet they were still out of the relegation zone heading into the final weekend, and started Sunday ahead of both Swinton and Whitehaven.
Though London were on top in the early stages at the Cherry Red Records Stadium, it was Keighley who took the lead after 11 minutes through an Oscar Thomas penalty.
Dean Parata and Wellington Albert both came inches away from scoring a try for London a few minutes later, but heroic defence kept them out, before Thomas missed a penalty attempt to put Keighley further ahead.
The Cougars came agonisingly close to a try when Lewis Young broke away superbly. But the final pass to Alix Stephenson, who would have had a free run at the try line, went to ground, and London escaped.
But Keighley shrugged off that disappointment and went over moments later, Dan Parker scoring by the sticks, Thomas converting for 8-0.
And when London were caught offside moments before the break, Thomas knocked the subsequent penalty over the posts to increase Cougars’ lead.
But Broncos came out with the bit between their teeth at the start of the second half, and blew Keighley away in a ferocious 17-minute spell.
Dean Whare crossed in the corner first, before Iliess Macani finished off a sweeping move.
Corey Norman landed the second of those conversions from the touchline to level the scores.
The impressive Whare crossed the line again to put London in front, before Bill Leyland’s converted try put London 10 points in front.
That scoreline was enough to send Keighley down, but to their credit they hit back.
After winning a penalty in a good position, Mark Ioane charged over beneath the sticks from close range, with Thomas’ conversion putting Keighley just 20-16 behind and safe for the time being.
Keighley were buoyed by that and put pressure on, but suffered a sucker punch when brilliant hands from Whare, followed by fine footwork from Macani to stay in play, led to a try in the corner for the latter.
Norman missed the conversion attempt, but Cougars were unable to hit back, so went down by the narrowest of margins.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here