MIDLANDS HURRICANES 22 KEIGHLEY COUGARS 24
IAN GOLDEN, Alexander Stadium, Sunday

MIDLANDS’ top-four chances took a further dent with this home defeat to Keighley, in what was an excellent game of rugby league for the neutral.

The visitors had the better of the first half and although their only score after the break came from a 44th-minute Matty Beharrell penalty, it ended up being the only difference between the two sides, with the try count at four each.

There was a big loss for Midlands in the eighth minute when Luis Roberts had to leave the game for a head injury, leaving them with just one recognised winger for most of the match.

The first opportunity to score came on five minutes. Keighley’s Brad England dropped the ball on his own 30-metre line, but Midlands did likewise a couple of tackles later and the chance was lost.

From the resulting set, the visitors took the lead, and the try came from England, receiving the ball from Brad Holroyd who made a good clean break. 

Matty Beharrell converted and the lead was soon doubled to 12-0 as Lachlan Lanksey dived over from close range.

Midlands struck back on 16 minutes after another spilled ball gave them a scrum on Keighley’s 20-metre line. A couple of tackles in, Jon-Luke Kirby scored near to the sticks, although Todd Horner, surprisingly given the angle, sliced the kick wide.

The Hurricanes strived for more, but were continually denied by the Cougars defence. Matty Chrimes was close twice – first being held up over the line, then he had a foot in touch as he ran well and even grounded, only to be given the bad news by the touch judge.

Keighley weren’t making good use of the ball on their attacks in this phase of the game, until England took advantage of a bit of good fortune by picking up a dropped ball to score in the corner.

From kick-off, it got even better for Keighley as again they scored back-to-back tries. Connor Sayner made a clean break from 40 metres and avoided all markers as he ran to score.

It looked like they’d scored another before half-time too, only for the score to be chalked off for offside, but they were good for their 22-4 lead.

The advantage was extended just four minutes into the second half. After Midlands gave away two penalties in as many minutes, Beharrell chose to kick at goal and made no mistake.

Midlands struck back after winning a six-again, but they didn’t need all the tackles. From the just the second play, Sully Medforth broke the line and ran 40 metres to score, converting his own try.

For nearly 25 minutes after that, it was nip and tuck, with neither side being able to break through. Brad Holroyd was nearest, having had a try ruled out for a forward pass.

Then, following a good break from Medforth, Ryan Johnson went over and the Medforth converted well to bring the score back to 24-16.

Soon after that, Midlands had a chance for another try after being awarded a scrum 10 metres from goal, but the ball was swung out wide, it was too high for Horner and sailed into touch.

With a minute to go, Zeus Silk charged over from a scrum, Medforth converted, and Midlands were left with 10 seconds and one play to look for a winner. 

However a long kick downfield came to nothing and it was the visitors who were celebrating.

GAMESTAR: Matty Beharrell was wise with his kicking and ran the game well.

GAMEBREAKER: Just the clock. The time ran out for Midlands as they were on top. Another 30 seconds and who knows?

MATCHFACTS
HURRICANES
1 Todd Horner
2 Matty Chrimes
3 Ryan Johnson
4 Ross Oakes
25 Luis Roberts
6 Jake Sweeting
21 Sully Medforth
8 Jon-Luke Kirby
14 Aiden Roden
18 Zeus Silk
11 Tom Wilkinson
15 Aaron Willis
13 Mikey Wood
Subs (all used)
20 Elliot Morris
38 Ritchie Hawkyard
27 Liam Kirk
17 Kieran Moran

Tries: Kirby (16), Medforth (48), Johnson (71), Silk (79)
Goals: Horner 0/1, Medforth 3/3

COUGARS
32 Connor Sayner
2 Brad Holroyd
4 Junior Sa’u
19 Junior Nuu
42 Andy Gabriel
6 Izaac Farrell
43 Matty Beharrell
33 Jack Teanby
9 George Flanagan
10 Mark Ioane
11 Brad England
12 Lachlan Lanksey
29 Lucas Green
Subs (all used)
44 Oli Burton
15 Dan Parker
16 Jordan Schofield
13 Aaron Brown

Tries: England (7, 28), Lanksey (11), Sayner (31)
Goals: Beharrell 4/5

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 4-12, 4-16, 4-22; 4-24, 10-24, 16-24, 22-24

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Hurricanes: Mikey Wood; Cougars: Matty Beharrell

Penalty count: 5-6
Half-time: 4-22
Referee: Denton Arnold
Attendance: 405