KEIGHLEY Cougars returned to winning ways after a late flourish against Midlands Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon, writes Harvey Redmonds.

After a few tough weeks for Keighley with the departure of coach Matt Foster and defeat to Oldham at Boundary Park, they would have wanted to get off to a good start in front of the home faithful, but with former Bradford Bulls player Todd Horner crossing that was less than ideal. Former Cougar Jake Sweeting added the extras.

Cougars hit back quickly though as Mark Ioane found a gap in the Midlands defence to score, and Oscar Thomas converted the try to make it level.

Keighley then put pressure on the Hurricanes as they coughed up possession only for Brandon Pickersgill to score almost immediately.

Midlands continued to make things difficult for the hosts as loanee Ryan Miller crossed in the corner and Sweeting converted the try to tie the scores up again.

Keighley went into the interval leading 18-12 after Junior Sa’u scooted from dummy half to score after a pressure on the Midlands defence.

The second-half started in similar fashion to the first as Mark Dunning’s men went close on a few occasions, but the Cougars stood firm in defence to stay in front.

Cougars then extended their leads as a lovely inside ball from Thomas was finished off by Pickersgill for his second of the afternoon.

Jake Webster’s men then started to flex their muscles as George Flanagan sneaked his way over to score and give Keighley an 18-point cushion.

Cougars finished off the scoring with a superb pass from Thomas found skipper Ellis Robson who ran a great line to score. Thomas converted all the tries as Keighley ran out 36-12 winners.

The Cougars will now take on Newcastle Thunder at Cougar Park and the Hurricanes take on Oldham at Boundary Park this coming weekend.