Cougars defeat Bears in tribute to Danny Jones
Cougars and Bears pay tribute to the crowd
Keighley Cougars 52 Coventry Bears 10
Kingstone Press League One Round 6
Cougar park, Sunday 10th May 2015
In what was described as a cauldron of emotion on Sunday, the Keighley Cougars had a proud win over the Bears of 52 to 10. The result was pretty insignificant due to the occasion which was a fitting tribute in honour of Danny Jones.
The Cougars scored nine try's which puts them now top of League One. The first half errors made by the Bears gifted field position to the Cougars who took their chances well with try's by Rawlins and Feather from close. The goal line defence of the Bears could have been better.
Despite these trys the Bears bounced back with a try by Eddie Medforth after some good field position and an offload gave him space. The Cougars hit back again through Paul March and classy centre Jessie Sheriffe to take the score to 24-4. Just before the half ended the Bears constructed another try and Medforth got his second to make it 24 to 10 on halftime.
The Cougars came out fireing and after only three minutes put the game out of reach of the Bears with a try by Jessie Sheriffe which was well constructed by Handforth. 30-10.
Handforth was again the architect as a long pass gave white the space to jink over in the corner. 34-10.
The Bears kept asking questions but when Dan Parker was sin binned for a professional foul on Feather for holding back the Cougars took advantage and cut loose to score three more unanswered try's before the end of the game against the Bears 12 men. One by Purslove and two try's by Feather from close range sealed a fitting victory for the Cougars.
The Bears will be disappointed and have some work to do but can take a number of positives from the game which will stand them in good stead going into next weekends fixture with the All Golds. The Bears also hope to welcome back Billy Sheen and Simon Phillips who both missed Sundays match from injury and illness.
Bears Head coach Tom Tsang commented:
It was a one of a kind match in terms of the atmosphere , the emotion and the mood of the crowd. We could have performed much better and some of our process wasn't up to scratch - the score blew out at the end with one of our guys getting sin binned in the last ten but the day belonged to Keighley - the club, the players and the fans were amazing and it was a fitting tribute to Danny Jones.
I'm also very proud of my boys for going out there in testing circumstances- they were professional throughout and represented the Bears impeccably.
Teams:
COUGARS: Jesse Sheriffe 10; Gabriel 10; Barnes 10; R Sheriffe 10; White 10; P March 10; Handforth 10; Law 10; Feather 10; Rawlins 10; Lynam 10; Pursglove 10; Lindsay 10. Interchanges (All Used): Cherryholme 10; Jode Sheriffe 10; Patchett 10; Kelly 10.
COVENTRY: Boulter, Rundle, Coleman, Medforth, Chapman-Carry, Poulton, Parker, Geurtjens, Hughes (capt), Hall, Barratt, Thompson, Reid. Interchanges (All Used): Brown, Beddows, Cooper, Kelliher.
The Cougars team were awarded man of the match as a collective after the match.
The Bears next game is versus University of Gloucester All Golds AWAY this Saturday 16th May at the Prince of Wales Stadium in Cheltenham, 3pm ko.