The Sheffield Eagles slipped to a disappointing 23-16 defeat at the hands of the Keighley Cougars at a wet Cougar Park.  It was an error-strewn, scrappy game played in atrocious conditions in West Yorkshire, leaving fans wondering when the 'summer rugby' season would start.

The Cougars opened the scoring through full-back Craig Moss.  The grubber kick through from halfback Jy-Mel Coleman bounced around 10 metres out from the Eagles line, and there was a suspected knock-on from Keighley loose-forward Paul March, but the referee waved play on for Moss to touch down.  Danny Lawton was un-successful with his first conversion attempt.

The visitors had some good field position following the try but errors close to the Keighley line cost them, and the hosts were quick to pounce.  Sam Obst put prop forward Andy Shickell through the gap and Shickell returned the ball to Obst for him to register four points under the sticks.  Lawton added the extras.

The teams then started to trade penalties as indiscipline began to plague the game, before Sheffield got themselves back into the game.  It was a penalty that gave the Eagles the field position, and a short pass from hooker Andrew Henderson sent Misi Taulapapa crashing over for his seventh try of the season.  Dominic Brambani pushed his conversion wide.

Simon Brown was introduced off the bench midway through the first half, and his impact was felt immediately as Sheffield gained an extra edge in attack.  Brown kicked a majestic 40/20 10 minutes prior to the half-time hooter, but the Eagles failed to take advantage.

It was a momentary lapse though as the visitors drew level just before the half time break.  Henderson passed the ball to Brambani who stepped around his marker to create an overlap, he then threw the ball wide to Taulapapa who gave Nev Morrison a walk-in.  The winger narrowed the angle with his 11th try in 11 competitive games for the Eagles, allowing Brown to add the extras.

Sheffield kept the ball alive on the last play of the first half but Taulapapa was tackled just short and the teams retired to the changing rooms.

The weather worsened during the interval inducing an even scrappier second half.  It was a half in which the Cougars drew first blood, Coleman racing 60 metres after intercepting Brambani's pass to touch down in the left-hand corner.  Lawton missed the conversion.

Keighley then restored their 10 point advantage through Lawton, as he jumped highest to claim an Obst bomb and score the try in front of the jubilant home support.  He converted his own try.

Sheffield winger Scott Turner thought he had got his side back in contention, but was denied by the touch judge who spotted his foot in touch before touching down on the left.  It proved only to be a let off for Keighley though, as they knocked the ball on 40 metres from their own line.  Brown launched a kick on the last tackle of the resulting set, which Taulapapa caught to double his tally for the afternoon.  Brown added the extra two points and the Eagles were within four.

The four point advantage became a six point advantage for the hosts as Lawton converted a 40 metre penalty from straight in front of the posts.  The referee and his assistants again denied the Eagles a chance of winning the game, after Brambani was adjudged to have been offside when he latched on to Brown's trademark banana kick.  Keighley then went up the other end and dropped a goal through Obst to seal the three points and claim a victory by 23 points to 16.

Cougars: Moss, Barnett, Haythornthwaite, Lawton, Duffy, Coleman, Obst, Shickell, Feather, Korkidas, Pursglove, Shepherd, March.  Replacements: Davey, Demitriou, Sheriffe, Cherryholme.

Eagles: Laulu-Togagae, Turner, Yere, Taulapapa, Morrison, McDonald, Brambani, Howieson, Henderson, Higgins, Szostak, Green, Hirst.  Replacements: Brown, Hepworth, Knowles, Stringer.