Keighley Cougars 28 London Skolars 60 (From Haringey Independent)

Keighley Cougars 28 London Skolars 60

9:27am Wednesday 8th July 2009

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THE London Skolars showed a marked improvement during their 60-28 defeat to Keighley Cougars on Sunday, but were still on the wrong end of a heavy defeat.

However, it was was not until the last 20 minutes that Keighley cut loose.

The Cougars had moved into an early lead with tries for Daley Williams and Scott Law. But Skolars responded well to level the scores. First, Chad Isles slipped under the posts after a good offload from Andrew Vine. Then, Paul Thorman kicked from deep on the sixth tackle and, as a Cougar tried to head the ball, it went backwards. Gareth Honor scooped it up, making the initial break and launching John Paxton, who offloaded for French A international Jeremy Guiraud to race in for his first try for the club, Paul Thorman converting both tries.

Former London Bronco Dan Potter added two tries to reassert the Cougars' lead, but Skolars struck just before half-time, a ball steal by Jy-Mel Coleman setting up Corey Simms to touch down in the corner, It meant the Skolars were just six points down at the break.

Willliams scored his second try soon after the restart after an error by the normally reliable Matt Thomas, but Skolars were back in the game on 52 minutes, Coleman and Paxton combining for Simms to score his second try of the afternoon.

However, as Skolars tired in the sweltering heat, Law added his second try, while Jon Presley scored two, including one run from the halfway line.

That was eclipsed by Paxton's 80-metre run after he picked up a dropped Cougar pass in his own half.

Carl Hughes hit the half century for Keighley, before Law completed a hat-trick, with Danny Jones scoring a perfect ten conversions.

The game was halted for ten minutes after Keir Bell was knocked unconscious after accidentally being caught by a stray knee in a tackle. Thankfully, he was fine after a trip to hospital, but it was a late trip back from the Pennines for him and his team-mates.

Skolars take a break from Championship 1 this weekend, but are in action in the inaugural Northern Rail 9s at Blackpool.

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