Keighley Cougars 12, Leigh Centurions 34

Cougars chief Barry Eaton is pleased with the progress his side continue to make, despite them losing 34-12 to Leigh Centurions today in the Co-operative Championship.

Keighley were always going to be up against it facing an in-form and well-drilled Leigh side enjoying an early renaissance under Ian Millward.

But despite the convincing nature of the result, Eaton saw evidence his players are slowly improving upon areas of concern and heading in the right direction.

He said: “I’m disappointed with the result but I thought the effort, enthusiasm and commitment of the players was fantastic. We’re certainly going in the right direction.

“We gifted them 12 points and came within a whisker of snatching a bonus point at 28-12. I really do think the boys deserved a bonus point today.

“They scored a try in the first half and a try in the second half from errors when we’ve put ourselves under pressure.

“That’s something we’ve got to learn from because teams at this level will punish you for making mistakes.

“But I thought we hung in there really well and gave them a real push and tested them at times with the ball as well.”

Leigh were quick to assert their authority on proceedings, Martyn Ridyard sneaking between the posts within six minutes, Mick Nanyn improving.

They then doubled their lead when Nanyn powered over himself before adding the extras, although the Cougars swiftly hit back.

A Danny Jones kick caused problems for the Leigh defence and Ryan Benjafield touched down, Jones converting.

But that setback failed to halt the Centurions’ march and Robbie Paul set up James Taylor with a neat grubber kick before scoring a try himself, Nanyn converting both to make it 24-6.

The game was put beyond any doubt when Steve Maden finished a move on the right but the Cougars still managed a flourish of their own, a superb break from Jonny Presley allowing George Rayner to score and Jones to kick the extra two.

Leigh completed the scoring in the final minute when Nanyn scored and converted his own try to seal a personal 18-point haul and a comfortable win.

But the margin of victory was slightly harsh on Keighley, whose defence had improved noticeably from the 62-18 defeat at Barrow in midweek.

Eaton said: “Defensively we’re getting there. We had a lot more aggression and enthusiasm in our defence today and put some real good contact in.

“Good sides like Leigh are always going to have possession and territory against the likes of us and it’s about how much we hang in there.

“We did that to a certain degree at times and if that had been a couple of weeks ago that scoreline would’ve run away from us.”