Keighley Cougars 30 Celtic Crusaders 30

The valiant Cougars were denied a famous win during the last seconds of a pulsating clash with big-spending Celtic Crusaders.

Peter Roe's men had trailed for most of the match but kept fighting back to eventually draw level in the dying minutes.

They then thought they had stolen victory when Crusaders made a hash of a Barry Eaton bomb and a delighted Phil Stephenson pounced on the loose ball between the posts.

But the Cougars were cruelly denied the try', having been pulled up for offside, and so they had to make do with a point from the LHF Health-plan National League Two cracker.

Player-coach Eaton was not too disheartened though and explained: "It was a massive disappointment at the time but with our sensible head on we would have taken a point before the game.

"We were behind for most of the match but showed a great never-say-die attitude and kept plugging away to get back into it.

"We showed a lot of improvement on last week's performance and really fronted up against a formidable side who boast a lot of full-time players."

It was the first time the Cougars had ever faced the Welsh newcomers and they contested a thrilling fixture.

With just one win to their name so far and on the back of a big second-half crumbling at Gateshead last week, no-one really fancied Keighley to cause Crusaders awash with Aussie talent too many problems.

But they finished with five tries through man-of-the-match Mick Fogerty (2), Gavin Duffy a third in three games for the young full back Marco Ferazano and Dave Norcross, while Eaton slotted five goals as the gutsy hosts battled for 80 minutes.

Compared to the Gateshead debacle, they enjoyed a much-improved completion rate, sorted their indiscipline and looked more dangerous with the ball in hand.

"It was really pleasing," said Eaton. "Now we want to bottle that and take it with us when we go to Hunslet next week, a game we realistically could be winning. We need to be kicking on now and start climbing that ladder."

After Cougars had dragged it back to 30-30, they were in the ascendancy heading into the final minutes and were unfortunate not to add another try or clinch a drop goal.

There was a welcome return for former prop Danny Murgatroyd, who signed from Dewsbury Rams on loan on Friday and made a big impact off the bench.

Eaton said: "He's given the club a boost, hopefully he's given the Keighley fans a boost and most importantly the players.

"Danny was a real handful and he worked really hard. Hopefully he can do well over the next three weeks here and who knows, maybe we can get him tied down permanently."

DAVE CRAVEN