Leon Pryce has promised more effort and determination from Town as they bid to rectify the failings which resulted in their 44-34 loss at Keighley.

The Town boss admits being angered by a first half display which left his side trailing 30-16 at the break.

But, having conveyed his fury during the interval, the men from Derwent Park put in a defiant second half shift to cut the gap to just two points before the Cougars edged home with the help of a last minute interception try which left a flattering final scoreline.

“I was disgusted at half time and let them know about it and they came out in the second half and showed a bit more spirit and heart,” fumed Pryce afterwards.

“We weren’t getting off of the line quick enough and were slow to react.

“Urgency in defence should be “a given” as we all know that defence wins matches.

“It’s something we will talk about and work on in training this week.

“But we mustn’t get too disappointed.

“It’s two points (lost) but there are a lot of games to go.

“I’m learning, the team is new and also still learning and we have other players still to come back into the squad.

“So I’m not going to get too downbeat as we showed a bit of determination towards the end which was nice for our fans who were fantastic in travelling all the way down here to support us.

“And we even gave ourselves a chance to win the game near the end, which looked unlikely at half time.”

Playmaker Jamie Doran was surprisingly omitted from the 17 who took to the pitch at Cougar Park and, while confirming the Whitehaven-born ex-Kells amateur was originally selected, Pryce refused to elaborate on the reasons other than citing “in-house problems”.

Town now face a week away from league action as they prepare to face fast rising community club Hunslet Club Parkside in the Challenge Cup, with the game set for Saturday (2.30pm) at the plushly appointed South Leeds Stadium home of semi-professional neighbours and Workington’s League One rivals Hunslet RLFC.