The Sheffield Eagles had to dig in and grind out a ten point victory against a tenacious Keighley Cougars side to temporarily return to the top two of the Co-operative Championship.  The game wasn't a classic by any stretch of the imagination, and the often un-spectacular contest was perhaps not the best advert for Championship rugby league, but Mark Aston will be delighted with how his team backed up last week's comeback at Batley.

The Cougars were the masters of their own downfall in the opening stages, striking the kick off over the dead ball line on the full.  They thought they had kept the Eagles out when they had apparently nullified the last tackle attack, but the ball ricocheted off a Keighley hand out of play for a Sheffield scrum.  The visitors then conceded a penalty, which was followed by the Eagles forcing a goal-line drop out, and on the fourth consecutive set on the Cougars line, Quentin Laulu-Togagae broke the deadlock.  He took on the defensive line in trademark fashion and accelerated over to score on the left hand side.  Simon Brown's conversion made the score 6-0.

Six soon became 12 as the Eagles capitalised from a Keighley knock on 40 metres from the try line.  Five tackles passed without the try line being threatened, but Vinny Finigan plucked Brown's chip from under Semi Tadulala's nose on the sixth and touched down in the same position as Laulu-Togagae had previously.  Brown again curled the conversion over from out wide.

Next came undoubtedly the try of the game and a rare bit of excitement for the crowd of 854 in attendance at the Don Valley Stadium.  The Eagles kicked the ball out on the full for the second time in a short space of time, leaving Keighley with possession in the Sheffield half.  They knocked the ball on though 30 metres out, where Laulu-Togagae picked up.  The Cougars defensive line was apparently set but the Samoan full back somehow jinked his way through a gap and showed the strength to escape the clutches of the defenders and the speed to sprint the full length of the field and touch down for his 29th try of an incredible season, leaving him just one short of Iva Ropati's long-standing record.  Brown this time hit the post with the conversion.

The away side's best opportunity came in the final minute of the half when Tadulala broke down the right, but Scott Turner made a superb try-saving tackle, just one component of an outstanding defensive display for the former Dewsbury man, including a couple of Menzie Yere style hits in the Papua New Guineans absence.  The tackle preserved the Eagles' clean sheet for the half, making it consecutive 40 minute shutouts after the second half effort at Mount Pleasant eight days ago.

Keighley became increasingly frustrated as the half wore on, and with that frustration came indiscipline as penalties for laying on and high tackles began to creep into their game. 

The second half began and the Sheffield defensive effort was being matched by the Cougars with neither team really looking like troubling the scoreboard.  The balance of play was definitely with the home side, but a mixture of strong defence and a couple of handling errors saw the game descend into something of a stalemate, with neither half-back combination managing to stamp their authority on proceedings.

The effort, desire and commitment was still very much on show though, from both sides, and the game started to boil over as the second half wore on, with touch judges coming on to the field on more than one occasion to aid Matt Thomason in stamping out a couple of minor scuffles.  The referee was eventually forced to take action after several warnings, sending experienced Keighley hooker David March to the sin bin after a high tackle, and the ensuing handbags that followed, with 17 minutes left on the clock.

When March returned, the Cougars managed to register the only points of the second half, and in doing so broke a Sheffield rearguard which had held firm for all of two hours.  Considering that monumental effort, it was somewhat surprising to see Jermaine Wray scoot over from close range for a relatively soft try with six minutes left on the clock to give his side a glimour of hope.  Obst's conversion got the visitors within 10.

Keighley managed to force a couple of goal-line drop outs in the closing stages, but were ultimately un-successful in worrying the Eagles supporters as the men in red and gold saw out the victory by 16 points to 6.

Eagles: Laulu-Togagae, Finigan, Turner, Taulapapa, Morrison, Brown, Brambani, Howieson, Henderson, Stringer, Knowles, Scott, Szostak.  Replacements: Green, Davey, Hepworth, Higgins.

Cougars: Moss, Duffy, Barnett, Lawton, Tadulala, Jones, Obst, Sheriffe, March, Cherryholme, Demetriou, Shepherd, Haythornthwaite.  Replacements: Wray, Pursglove, Korkidas, Shickell.

Attendance: 854