Keighley Cougars edge out Rochdale Hornets to make final

Cougars were coming into the game off the back of a defeat to Rochdale in their final game of the regular season at the Crown Oil Arena, and were desperately trying to avoid a repeat on home soil.

Keighley started the game strongly after Lachlan Lanskey, who is returning from injury, crashed over the whitewash.

Jack Miller added the extras to make it 6-0 and Cougars kept the pressure up with a second try before the 15-minute mark.

Lachlan Lanskey fights off the Rochdale defence to grab the opening score, and things soon got even better for Keighley. (Image: JT Sports Media.)

Miller put Josh Lynam through a gap to score to give the home side a two-score lead, though the former sent his conversion attempt wide.

The confidence was through the roof for Keighley as they forced two goal lone dropouts, while Rochdale were further hampered when they lost a key member of their attacking arsenal, Lewis Else, to injury midway through the first half.

It did not take long for Miller to sneak his way over the line after a neat kick, and he added to his own score to put Keighley 16-0 up.

Rochdale hit back through a Dean Roberts try on 36 minutes after a high kick was poorly dealt with by Keighley, Mackenzie Harman converting nicely.

But the first-half try scoring wasn’t over there, as Mark Ioane came off the bench for Cougars and barnstormed his way over the line to score after a great run. 

Miller added the extras to give Keighley what looked to be a near-unassailable 22-6 lead at the break.

Mark Ioane's converted try just before half-time looked to have put Cougars in total control. (Image: JT Sports Media.)

But the Hornets started the second-half on top and that resulted in Jordan Andrade scoring a converted try from close range to bring Rochdale back into the game. 

Rochdale made an error from the restart and soon after conceded a penalty, with Miller taking the two points to make the score 24-12 to Keighley. 

Keighley kept up the pressure and won another penalty, which Miller knocked through the posts to put his side further ahead.

But the game took another twist as Luke Forber scored in the corner for Rochdale after good work from Gregg McNally, though Harman could only send his conversion attempt wide.

The game became extremely feisty in the final 10 minutes as Aiden Roden was sent off for a tip tackle on Cougars winger Billy Walkley.

Aiden Roden's late red card for Rochdale was far from the end of the story in this gripping play-off game. (Image: JT Sports Media.)

It was soon 12 against 12 though, with Keighley having Will Maher sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle. 

The Hornets kept pushing to score again and did so through Myles Harrop in the corner.

Harman converted the try to bring Rochdale within four points with just over a minute to go. 

And the Hornets came close to completing a sensational comeback as McNally made one final break in the dying seconds.

But he could not find a teammate and the Cougars ran out as 26-22 winners. 

Keighley will now have two weeks to prepare for the final at Cougar Park, and Rochdale will hope to join them there, as they host Hunslet next weekend in the preliminary final.