What a wonderful game for the Cougars.
I'm still pinching myself (either that or the dogs got fleas). I can only ever remember beating Dewsbury once at their place since I started watching.
A top performance from everyone from start to finish - you could see the determination on their faces from the off - and they didn't take their foot off the gas for one second. It was good to see strong direct running from the forwards, Jermaine gave us go forward from the off, and the backs tried something different to open up gaps. Danny Jones pirouette a la Sinfield was an absolute peach; he is growing in confidence with every game and is prepared to attack the line at any opportunity.
It was good to see the way we tackled their big forwards and prevented offloads - last time they killed us with second and third phase play - this time they looked lost without it.
I went into the upstairs bar after the match and have to say that Dewsbury were very gracious in defeat, although rather shell shocked. I think the chap who gave the speech was dropped in it a the last minute and didn't really know what to say and it was good to see the Keighley director giving him moral support.
Its good to see that the team has bonded and grown in confidence but lets not be under any illusion that there is a lot of hard graft ahead, but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel (i just hope it isn't a train
)
Halifax have had a blip recently but they still have a formidable squad. They will be stronger and faster than Dewsbury but as long as we play with pride and passion and never give in, thats all any fan can ask.
