Buffaloes faced the Welshmen at home for the first time, looking for back to back wins in 2011 to end a difficult season on a high.
Once more their preparations were hampered by late pullouts and that seemed to affect them early on.
Liam Watton took advantage for the visitors in the fourth minute, the long-striding winger racing clear, Paul Emmanuelli converting.
Bramley regrouped and levelled soon after when hooker Ross Peel saw a gap at dummy half close in and dived over, Graham Harrison’s goal levelling.
In a see-saw encounter, quick hands from the scrum base saw the ball end up in the hands of Watton who sprinted 35 metres for his second try which was again goaled.
Harrison was at the centre of the Bramley response, delivering a short pass into the willing hands of Joe Bartle, who burst through two tacklers to again restore parity.
In the 21st minute the Buffaloes took the lead for the first time, Tom Stuckey crossing after some brilliant passing but they were undone five minutes from the interval when a loose pass saw Liam Watton outpace the defence over 30 metres before passing to Darren Barker, Emmaunelli’s goal just edging Cougars in front at the break.
Three minutes into the second half, a push at the scrum resulted in Valleys coming up with the ball, and Watton claimed his hat trick as the ball sped his way.
Four minutes later and the Cougars were in again after some poor Buffaloes marking up allowed Ben Thomas to cross.
Just before the hour, the irrepressible Watton was over again for his fourth try after an attack down the blind side.
The next twenty minutes saw end to end action with neither side able to convert their pressure into points.
With three minutes to go, following a lost ball in the tackle, Watton walked in for his fifth touchdown of a remarkable afternoon and, in the final minute, prop Kevin James make a great break fending off the scrambling Bramley defenders before feeding hooker Alan Pope who scored between the posts giving Emmanuelli an easy, sixth conversion.
Men of The Match:
Bramley Buffaloes – Graham Harrison
Valley Cougars – Liam Watton
Bramley Buffaloes: 1) Duane Platt, 2) Tom Stuckey, 3) Reece Spurr, 4) Ian Fox, 5) Dez Morris, 6) Graham Harrison, 7) Liam Walsh, 8) Dave Parker, 9) Ross Peel, 10) Graham Nash, 11) Craig Green, 12) Benoit Rogers, 13) Nick Fontaine. Subs (all used) 14) Joe Bartle, 15) Darren Greenwood, 16) Chris Gardner
Tries: Peel, Bartle, Stuckey
Goals: Harrison x 2
Valley Cougars: 1) Lee Jenkins, 2) Rhodri Morris, 3) Darren Baker, 4) Barrie Phillips, 5) Mark Jones, 6) Paul Emanuelli, 7) Karl Davies, 8) Kevin James, 9) Alan Pope, 10) Elgan Evans, 11) Liam Watton, 12) Tom Grigson, 13) Ryan Sadler. Subs (all used) 14) Michael Webb, 15) Ben Thomas, 16) Ed Weston
Tries: Watton x 5, Barker, Thomas, Pope
Goals: Emmanuelli x 6