Keighley Cougars 12-20 Midlands Hurricanes
Betfred Championship Round Eight
By Tom Kiernan-Wilson
The Canes secured back to back Betfred Championship wins last Sunday after another professional performance on the road saw them shut out a frustrated Keighley Cougars side.
Midlands stated strongly from the get-go, with the Canes regularly testing the Cougars defence and forcing a couple of goal-line drop outs. However, it would take almost 20 minutes before the Canes broke the deadlock as some swift hands from right to left found Matty Chrimes in space to run down the wing and escape a couple of tackle attempts to roll over and put the ball down (0-4). Sully Medforth’s strong kicking from the Rochdale game would continue as he added the extras from out wide (0-6).
That try would invigorate Keighley, as the momentum would almost immediately shift to the hosts as they enjoyed some sustained pressure on the Canes line. That pressure would eventually pay off as former Coventry Bear Dan Parker would crash over from short range left of the sticks (4-6). Veteran halfback Matty Beharrell would level the scores (6-6).
It wouldn’t take long for Midlands to hit back. Approximately five minutes later Lewis Else would feed a short ball to Toby Warren, who in turn broke through the line and offloaded back to Else who dived over to score left of the posts (6-10). Sully would double his account from the kicking tee (6-12).
The second half would see Midlands manage the game perfectly early on, with back to back penalties in front of the Cougars sticks leading to Sully Medforth calling for the kicking tee to nudge us into a two-score lead (6-14). The Canes almost extended that score as Lewis Else fed a short pass for Toby Warren to crash over, but he would be tackled short of the line.
The game management would continue as we secured possession immediately following the handover by forcing a goal-line drop out. A few minutes later we would earn another penalty for offside in front of the sticks and Sully Medforth would once again call for the kicking tee and nudge us into a ten-point lead (6-16).
Midlands thought they were in for their third a few sets later as a Todd Horner grubber was pounced on by Isaac Shaw, but the prop would be denied his first try in Canes colours as the effort was pulled back for offside. Lewis Else would however secure our third try five minutes later as he opted to bulldoze over the Keighley defender to plonk the ball down (6-20). Sully would however drag his conversion attempt wide.
Things would go from bad to worse for Keighley as Izaac Farrell would be sin-binned for a shoulder charge to Issac Shaw, however this would again appear to invigorate the Cougars who arguably had their best spell of the second half a man down. This effort would be rewarded as – just as they returned to a full compliment – Connor Sayner would break through the Canes defence to score left of the posts with a little over five minutes left (10-20), and Beharrell would convert (12-20).
Keighley would try and pull off an improbable comeback in the dying moments of the game, however a fumbled high bomb and a subsequent penalty for a high shot on Todd Horner would put the game to bed as the Canes played out a simple finish to secure a fifth Betfred Championship win.
With three consecutive away games down another six to go, Mark Dunning’s men now travel to Colwyn Bay on Easter Sunday for an “El Expansico” clash with 2025 Betfred League One Champions North Wales Crusaders at Stadium Eirias.
Man of the Match: Brandon Moore (sponsored by Lowry Recruitment)
Tries: Chrimes, Else (2)
Cons: Medforth (2/3)
Pens: Medforth (2/2)
