Keighley Cougars 18 Sheffield Eagles 28: Eagles have enough class to hold back hosts Cougars in tight tussle

Eagles went in first, as Dominic Brambini strolled his way in for the opening score. Brambani was instrumental again four minutes later, with his sublime cut-out pass playing Tom Armstrong through on his way to the line.

The home side then started on the comeback trail. Firstly, James Feather and Danny Jones orchestrated a move from midfield, which saw Daley Williams race in at the corner.

Paul March then used all his experience to craftily touch down from dummy half. And, despite Scott Leatherbarrow’s failure to tag on the extras, the comeback was complete when Scott Law intercepted and charged in from 40 metres out.

However, Sheffield cruelly retook the lead on the hooter when Scott Turner squeezed in on the left edge.

Eagles then extended their advantage eight minutes into the second half, with James Davey feeding Armstrong for his second.

The rain then meant that fluent attacking football was kept to a minimum, up until Feather managed to escape the markers from dummy half and put in a lung-busting run downfield, which gave March the quick play-the-ball to play in Ollie Pursglove back on the inside.

Cougars pushed the game right to the end, up until Danny Jones’s swooping pass was seized on by Misi Taulapapa, who raced the length of the field to break the home side’s hearts, with four minutes left on the clock.

Keighley Cougars: White; Duffy, Williams, Chandler, Lawton; Jones, Leatherbarrow; Shickell, Feather, Hesketh, Pursglove, Rawlins, March. Substitutes: Law, Sheriffe, Lynham, Parkinson.

Sheffield Eagles: Laulu-Togagae; Turner, Yere, Armstrong, Taulapapa; Walker, Brambani; Battye, Henderson, Stringer, Garside, Szostak, Knowles. Substitutes: Green, Davey, Roche, Esposito.

Referee: G Hewer (RFL).