Goole Vikings secure first League One victory as Keighley Cougars’ woes deepen

KEIGHLEY COUGARS 18 GOOLE VIKINGS 24
STEPHEN IBBETSON, Cougar Park, Friday

GOOLE clinched their first League One success at the fifth time of asking, deepening Keighley’s woes in the process.

Scott Taylor’s side had made a solid enough start in the professional ranks and secured victories over London and North Wales in knockout competition.

One-score defeats to promotion contenders Midlands, Dewsbury and Swinton reflected their competitiveness and now that their first win is on the board, they have every right to look up the table.

Keighley will be doing the same – if only because there isn’t anywhere else to look. They are joint-bottom with only Newcastle for company on zero points as their season goes from bad to worse.

Alan Kilshaw saw a lead slip in his first game since taking over from Jake Webster against Swinton, and it was a similar story here too as the Cougars sunk to a sixth defeat from six.

That was despite two tries from Brad Holroyd and one from Alfie Goddard, newly signed from Hunslet – where he once played under Kilshaw – and replacing Adam Ryder who will be out for the long term with a knee injury.

Goole had new arrivals of their own in Jack Arnold and Kye Armstrong, loan signings from Featherstone and Hull FC respectively.

Joe Phillips also made his club debut after recovering from a pre-season knee injury, coming off the bench alongside fellow returnees Alex Holdstock and Andy Ellis.

Wet conditions made for a tricky game but Keighley started well, opening the scoring inside six minutes as Holroyd got on the end of a kick fumbled by opposing winger Neil Tchamambe.

Jack Miller, marking both his 100th club appearance and 150th career game simultaneously, converted that try and their next on 18 minutes.

This time Holroyd turned provider, getting an offload away under pressure for a debut try by his new centre Goddard.

At 12-0 up, it looked like Keighley would be the team getting off the mark for the campaign – but Goole had other ideas.

They responded just before the half-hour mark, Holdstock making a quick impact off the bench by crashing over from close range as Reece Dean converted.

Then two tries in the final three minutes of the hour, both scored down the left, put the Vikings in the driving seat, 12-16 ahead at half-time.

First centre Manoa Wacokecoke powered in, then his winger Tchamambe broke free for an effort Dean goaled after missing his previous attempt.

Keighley’s initial response was strong, as Holroyd latched onto an Izaac Farrell kick within three minutes of the resumption for his second try and Miller’s third goal nudged them back in front.

But the crucial, and final, try of the match came in the 54th minute from Jeylan Hodgson, who took in a Dean offload to score an effort improved by the assist-maker.

The Vikings still had to work hard in defence to maintain that four-point lead, but did so with relish and even tagged an extra couple of points on right at the end, via a Dean penalty after Brad England was sent to the sin bin for a tip tackle, to complete a historic day.

GAMESTAR: Jamie Shaul’s experience at the back helped marshal his side to victory.

GAMEBREAKER: Jeylan Hodgson’s try proved to the decisive one.

MATCHFACTS
COUGARS
1 Brandon Pickersgill
2 Brad Holroyd
– Alfie Goddard
4 Junior Sa’u
5 Billy Walkley
6 Izaac Farrell
7 Jack Miller
10 Mark Ioane
9 George Flanagan
29 Lucas Green
35 Brad England
12 Lachlan Lanksey
15 Dan Parker
Subs (all used)
16 Jordan Schofield
17 Josh Lynam
20 Oliver Whitford
22 Valu Tane Bentley

Tries: Holroyd (6, 43), Goddard (18)
Goals: Miller 3/3
Sin bin: England (79) – tip tackle

VIKINGS
29 Jamie Shaul
2 Tom Halliday
14 Misi Taulapapa
5 Manoa Wacokecoke
29 Neil Tchamambe
32 Jack Potter
7 Reece Dean
34 Jack Arnold
9 Jeylan Hodgson
17 Jack Coventry
35 Kye Armstrong
11 Brett Ferres
10 Jack Aldous
Subs (all used)
16 Harry Aldous
15 Alex Holdstock
– Joe Phillips
40 Andy Ellis