After two bruising encounters against Hull Kingston Rovers in consecutive weeks, the Cougars could look forward to entertaining London Skolars in this the 3rd round of the Northern Trains Cup with plenty of enthusiasm. In the program notes Gary Moorby quite rightly looks back at the last home game when the Cougars so nearly beat the Robins and was obviously very optimistic about the Cougars chances in todays match. The truth of the matter was the Cougars were on a hiding to nothing. If they thrashed London it was to be expected and if they lost
well that would have been a disaster; The cougars didnt lose but neither did they thrash the Skolars in a game that was dominated by some mystifying decisions and the whistle from Referee Hicks.
The Skolars to their credit came to play and were good value during the first forty minutes; it was however the Cougars that scored first. With both teams sharing possession during the early periods, it was not until the tenth minute that Matty Firth broke down the middle to be tackled 20 yards out and with one tackle remaining the ball was swung wide for Andy Robinson to score in the corner, Mitchell missing the conversion. The Cougars were looking strong and it only took another six minutes for Robinson to go in for his brace after spinning well out of the tackle to crash over the line, this time converted by Mitchell. As in recent weeks Matty Firth continues to impress with smart attacking plays and it was on the stroke of twenty five minutes that he put through a beautifully weighted kick for Matt Foster to pounce on for a converted try.
At 16 0 the Cougars looked to be in control but London were having none of it and it was with no surprise that they were the next to score. After applying plenty of pressure and assisted by indiscipline from Keighley the Skolars went in near the posts with New Zealander Kurt Pittman going over from acting half for a well earned try, converted by Gee. With only an Adam Mitchell penalty on the stroke of half time, the Cougars went in with an 18 6 lead.
The Cougars came out for the second period with more purpose, were better organised and altogether much stronger. With the backs coming more into the game it was with no surprise that Andy Robinson completed his hatrick after a superb break from the excellent Matt Foster, this after a great try from Matt Bramald who himself finished off with his own trio of tries, Ashton kicking two goals. The London Skolars did manage to score again with Ashley Tozer going in out wide for an unconverted try, this bringing the scoring to an end.
With all the tries coming from the wingers Robinson and Bramald, both going in for hatricks, one could be forgiven for thinking this was an expansive game but that is not the case. The whole pack worked very hard with Stephenson and Murgatroyd being the pick, Matt Foster shone in the second half but the man of the match has to go to the Referee who tried his level best to completely lose control of the game and almost force it to deteriorate with very odd decisions and an inability to allow the game to flow.
Cougars 38 10 London Skolars
The Skolars to their credit came to play and were good value during the first forty minutes; it was however the Cougars that scored first. With both teams sharing possession during the early periods, it was not until the tenth minute that Matty Firth broke down the middle to be tackled 20 yards out and with one tackle remaining the ball was swung wide for Andy Robinson to score in the corner, Mitchell missing the conversion. The Cougars were looking strong and it only took another six minutes for Robinson to go in for his brace after spinning well out of the tackle to crash over the line, this time converted by Mitchell. As in recent weeks Matty Firth continues to impress with smart attacking plays and it was on the stroke of twenty five minutes that he put through a beautifully weighted kick for Matt Foster to pounce on for a converted try.
At 16 0 the Cougars looked to be in control but London were having none of it and it was with no surprise that they were the next to score. After applying plenty of pressure and assisted by indiscipline from Keighley the Skolars went in near the posts with New Zealander Kurt Pittman going over from acting half for a well earned try, converted by Gee. With only an Adam Mitchell penalty on the stroke of half time, the Cougars went in with an 18 6 lead.
The Cougars came out for the second period with more purpose, were better organised and altogether much stronger. With the backs coming more into the game it was with no surprise that Andy Robinson completed his hatrick after a superb break from the excellent Matt Foster, this after a great try from Matt Bramald who himself finished off with his own trio of tries, Ashton kicking two goals. The London Skolars did manage to score again with Ashley Tozer going in out wide for an unconverted try, this bringing the scoring to an end.
With all the tries coming from the wingers Robinson and Bramald, both going in for hatricks, one could be forgiven for thinking this was an expansive game but that is not the case. The whole pack worked very hard with Stephenson and Murgatroyd being the pick, Matt Foster shone in the second half but the man of the match has to go to the Referee who tried his level best to completely lose control of the game and almost force it to deteriorate with very odd decisions and an inability to allow the game to flow.
Cougars 38 10 London Skolars
