HALIFAX PANTHERS 18 KEIGHLEY COUGARS 19
EMMA KENNEDY, The Shay, Sunday
MATTY BEHARRELL’S late field-goal ensured Keighley ended the campaign on a high with their first win at Halifax since 1997.
The Panthers, ever-improving across a troubled season, had opened up a 12-point lead in as many minutes, but Keighley refused to lie down, clawing back to take the lead with five minutes remaining before Beharrell’s all-important field-goal sealed victory.
Halifax were boosted by the loan signings of Kieran Rush and Charlie Newton from Huddersfield, but were without the influential Alfie Johnson due to a leg injury, whilst Keighley welcomed back prop Jack Teanby from suspension to good effect in the front row.
The hosts started like a train, opening the scoring in the second minute when Jesse Soric broke through the Keighley defence from halfway before finding the supporting Ben Crooks on his shoulder to score. Rush was on target from the tee.
The Panthers kept their foot on the gas, forcing Connor Sayner over his own line for a drop-out, but Luckas Sableman-Blue could not reel in the final pass with the tryline begging.
Instead, their next try came after Sayner hesitated under a swirling Soric bomb, with Delaine Gittens-Bedward racing under the posts after consecutive repeat sets. Rush goaled to leave the Panthers scoring at a point a minute.
Keighley began to settle into the match as the rain started to fall, winning a drop-out and then a penalty, but an Alfie Dean knock-on brought an end to a promising passage of play.
However, they were rewarded with their first points midway through the half as Brad Holroyd rose highest to Beharrell’s chip to the left corner and found just enough space to ground the ball.
The halfback couldn’t convert from out wide, a miss that it seemed the visitors would rue.
But Keighley continued to push forward. George Flanagan was held up from a dummy-half dart, before another Dean knock-on let Halifax off the hook. Oliver Whitford was then stopped just short on the last.
Having seen the game even out, Halifax saw the better of the play in the closing stages, forcing a drop-out that then did not go the required distance, but could not extend their 12-4 advantage.
The second half started in a similar vein as the first, but this time it was Keighley who struck early.
Holroyd intercepted a cut-out pass and ran 90 metres to score under the posts, with Beharrell’s conversion cutting the gap to two points.
The hosts’ reaction was near instantaneous, and after juggling the ball on the right in a move more akin to basketball than rugby, Ben Tibbs beat Dan Parker to his own kick to score behind the posts, Rush adding the conversion.
Chances came and went at both ends as tempers began to flare, with an outstanding Dean tackle preventing Halifax from adding to their lead, whilst the home defence soaked up the pressure of consecutive drop-outs.
However, helped by a penalty, Keighley’s persistence paid off with just over a quarter of an hour remaining, with veteran Flanagan characteristically darting from dummy-half and stretching out a hand to score next to the posts. Beharrell’s conversion set up a grandstand finish at 18-16.
The visitors were handed a gilt-edged chance with five minutes remaining when Tibbs knocked on a Beharrell bomb, but instead added their next points from the tee, Beharrell levelling the scores with a penalty goal from ten metres.
An Izaac Farrell 40/20 then set the position for Beharrell to slot a vital field-goal to give Keighley the slenderest of advantages with two minutes left to play.
It was last chance saloon for the hosts, who attacked swiftly down the right, but Tibbs was bundled into touch as the Cougars finished their season on a high.
GAMESTAR: Matty Beharrell’s kicking game was instrumental in securing a long-awaited win for the Cougars.
GAMEBREAKER: Beharrell’s late field-goal eventually settled an encounter that could have gone either way.
MATCHFACTS
PANTHERS
5 Lloyd Roby
2 Ben Tibbs
3 Ben Will
11 Ben Crooks
24 Luckas Sableman-Blue
6 Jesse Soric
– Kieran Rush
33 Delaine Gittens-Bedward
7 Curtis Davies
21 Ben Forster
15 Connor Davies
22 Darius Carter
13 Jacob Fairbank
Subs (all used)
10 Charlie Newton
19 Zack McComb
20 Vila Halafihi
29 Riley Thompson
Tries: Crooks (2), Gittens-Bedward (11), Tibbs (48)
Goals: Rush 3/3
COUGARS
1 Connor Sayner
19 David Foggin-Johnston
21 Alfie Dean
41 Mac Walsh
2 Brad Holroyd
6 Izaac Farrell
7 Matty Beharrell
40 Brad Clavering
14 George Flanagan
16 Leo Aliyu
42 Josh Jordan-Roberts
33 Emmanuel Waine
10 Jack Teanby
Subs (all used)
8 Dan Parker
17 Jordan Schofield
18 Oliver Whitford
26 Nathan Rushworth
Tries: Holroyd (20, 44), Flanagan (64)
Goals: Beharrell 3/4
Field-goals: Beharrell (78)
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 12-4; 12-10, 18-10, 18-16, 18-18, 18-19
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Panthers: Jesse Soric; Cougars: Matty Beharrell
Penalty count: 3-6
Half-time: 12-4
Referee: Denton Arnold
Attendance: 1,680