Thats not a bad result.

They won`t be many teams go to Toulouse this season and come away with the points.

I know we tend to have different points on view, but that's a good point and one that I was pondering. Do we have players who will give everything for the cause and dig deep (Buster/Duffy) or those who have come to Keighley as a stepping stone to SL contracts. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we have a squad of players who don't care and maybe the squad just need time but like Jim says desire etc has crossed my mind.

Ok now I'm back in the hotel with it's free wi-fi it's time for my synopsis.

In the first 5 minutes of the game we were dreadful, we made 4 or 5 errors. To be honest the rest of the first half was not much better, we struggled to complete our sets of six we missed touch from penalties twice which is unforgivable and were inviting pressure from Toulouse. In the last 5 minutes of the half we finally managed to create some pressure of our own. Toulouse were deservedly in the lead at the break, to be honest the scoreline could easily have been wider than the 12-6 margin it was.

In the second half we started like we ended the first, creating lots of pressure on the Toulouse line. From winning a penalty and forcing 2 goal-line drop outs we got the equalising try. Then we took complete control with JD being his usual impressive self. We created what was a solid 10 point lead.

Then instead of going for the jugular and finishing them off we sat back and invited more pressure on to us and paid the penalty. First we concede a try, reducing the deficit to just 4 points. The after a Danny Lawton penalty, which I might add fell nicely in to my arms, gave us a 6 point cushion. It all led to the proverbial grandstand finish. With 90 seconds remaining we conceded another Toulouse try out wide on our left hand edge, the two extra points were superbly taken under big pressure. That wasn't the end of the story, from the resulting kick off, we gave away a penalty early in the tackle count. The resulting kick to touch left them in drop goal range with 40 seconds on the clock. However they some how contrived to knock the ball on with 10 seconds remaining whilst their stand off was waiting in the pocket to slot the winning drop goal.

The question has to be asked. Was it a great comeback or did we dodge a bullet? I'm not sure to ne honest, I've mixed feelings about the game. Had we not committed so many errors in the first half we would have easily won the game. Yet we avoided disaster because Toulouse failed when it mattered

What happened after the game was as equally incredible. Although I'll save that for a new thread tomorrow.

Everyone I spoke to in work seemed to think Cougars would get beat. I possibly though we would struggle so a draw seems a decent result.

I thought fitness was an issue last week and again we have let some tries in late on. Lets be honest though been in the cup is decent but the league is where it matters. Lets get the fitness up now and forget about results in Northern Rail cup.

hello again mate - nice meeting you three yesterday and i'm glad you enjoyed the trip to Toulouse - I just finished tapping my report for the paper and I think your assessment of the game was pretty well on the money though maybe a little more credit to Toulouse for their fightback ? both sides could have won it and both coaches feel they should have won it so mabe the draw is the fair result ?
My opinions of Keighley ? well,for me the first half seemed to have too many 'playmakers' if that makes sense ? with Wray,March,Obst and Feather getting in each others way at times making the teamwork look disjointed and badly organised - JD obviously sorted this out at half time with Sam taking more of the initiative with better orgainsation in centrefield and a more measured approach with better positional play across the park IMO - did Keighley lose the game ? well probably yes but you could say the same of Toulouse at the break.They looked the more likely to win IMO and showed a lot of character to come back at the end - they exploited the weakness down your left flank and some great kicking at the end gave them a well deserved draw IMO - I think the effect of losing the prop forward in the first minute really hit Toulouse cos' that guy has been awesome ths season - I thought the hoe team did really well and could maintain a place in the Championship IF they didn't have the hassle of travelling which was the killer in those three years.

briliant gesture from the lads after to invite you for some nosh after the game - typical of the local hospitality but great credit to you three for taking the trouble to follow your team - look forward to seeing you again someday - hope you left some beer in the Melting Pot for the locals...........

best wishes

Peter & Heather

It was very nice meeting you both Peter and Heather. The local hospitality was superb and a great experience. I met a few other Brits that were friendly and helpful before and after the game. We even met a former player of Toulouse from a few years back. His name now escapes me. All in all a trip well worth taking and one I would hope to do again if we draw Toulouse in a cup again.