By Nathan Atkinson of the Telegraph & Argus

KEIGHLEY Cougars made a dream start to the new Betfred Championship season yesterday afternoon.

They welcomed Goole Vikings to Cougar Park and despite a minor scare late on, they otherwise dominated in a 32-18 home win.

The East Yorkshire side did the double over Keighley last season in League 1, but they were quickly on the back foot here.

Cougars made a lightning start, with winger Brad Holroyd crossing the whitewash to open the scoring after just three minutes.

Joint-skipper Matty Beharrell added the extras then scored the second try of the afternoon himself.

He converted that to give Keighley a 12-0 lead in as many minutes.

Loose forward Aaron Brown went over under the posts for Cougars’ third try, with Beharrell’s routine conversion increasing the home side’s lead.

The visitors were not helping themselves with the concession of several needless penalties, but veteran second row Brett Ferres got them on the board shortly before the break.

Former Cougars ace Jack Miller added the extras, but Goole still trailed 18-6 heading into the second half.

After the resumption, the away side took charge, with the pacey Oli Morgan and Harry Medlicott causing the home defence problems.

But they were unable to cross the whitewash and instead, they fell further behind to a Beharrell penalty.

Tensions spilled over with some fisticuffs shortly afterwards, though no cards were dished out by referee Denton Arnold.

And Cougars soon poured water all over Goole’s fire when replacement Alfie Dean sliced through the defence to score.

Beharrell’s conversion lifted Keighley into a seemingly unassailable 26-6 advantage, but the visitors never gave up.

First, Miller squeezed through a gap to score on 75 minutes before converting his own try.

And moments later, another former Cougars favourite, Jack Arnold, made his way over the whitewash.

Miller’s conversion left Goole just 26-18 behind, with a few minutes left to pull off the most extraordinary comeback.

But instead, Keighley had the final word with a storybook moment.

In the dying seconds, winger David Foggin-Johnston raced through and looked certain to score himself, in his first competitive game since returning from a two-year drugs ban.

But instead, he fed replacement hooker George Flanagan, who was making his 300th career appearance, to score perhaps the easiest try of his career.

And Flanagan, Cougars’ joint-captain alongside Beharrell, gleefully added the conversion with the last kick of the game to seal an excellent home win.

Keighley will be back in action this coming weekend, as they visit Heworth in the second round of the Betfred Challenge Cup.

Keighley Cougars superbly win opener against Goole Vikings | Bradford Telegraph and Argus – Link to article