FEATHERSTONE ROVERS 52 KEIGHLEY COUGARS 12
CHRISTIAN LEE, Millennium Stadium, Sunday
PAUL COOKE started his reign as Featherstone coach following the departure of James Ford with a resounding win.
But it was a tough start as interim team chief of Keighley for Jordie Hedges, who moved from assistant after Jake Webster stepped down.
Four tries in the last ten minutes of the first half put Rovers in control and they scored nine in all, with Caleb Aekins claiming a hat-trick.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the home side as the Cougars struck first inside five minutes through Izaac Farrell.
The tricky halfback fooled the defence with a dummy before sidestepping fullback Aekins. Jack Miller converted.
The League One side’s advantage didn’t last long, however, as Featherstone hit back when Aekins crashed over wide out before Jayden Hatton touched down. Calum Turner tagged on the two both times.
Not to be deterred, the visitors began to work their way back into the game and levelled the scores when Farrell found Brad Holroyd with a lovely looping pass which cut out the Featherstone defenders. Miller was on target from wide out.
The joy for the travelling fans was short-lived, however, as that quartet of scores swung the game firmly in favour of Cooke’s men.
Off the back of a Keighley handling error, a slick move had them scrambling and Aekins used his pace to get on the outside of the defence and cross for his second.
Derrell Olpherts then broke through the middle and found Jordan Williams to finish the move before Clay Webb managed to contort his body and reach over the line despite the attention of three Keighley men.
Olpherts dived over to notch one-handed as the buzzer sounded, and with Turner having improved each touchdown, it was 36-12.
Keighley started the second half strongly, but errors at key moments stopped them mounting any sustained pressure.
Their best chance came when Junior Sa’u found space down the left but with just Aekins to beat, Farrell spilled his pass back inside.
Featherstone also had chances to extend their lead but handling slips were their downfall too.
Gareth Gale broke down the left and kicked back inside but Connor Jones was unable to gather in the bouncing ball at his feet for what would have been a certain try, before Gale spilled the final pass of a sweeping move from right to left.
Eventually though, Featherstone found a way through a tiring Keighley defence and closed the game out with three more tries.
On 67 minutes, they broke down the left and, after juggling the ball, Brad Day found Hatton, who streaked away to score his second.
Will Jubb burrowed over from dummy-half soon after and with Turner making it eight kicks from eight, it was now 48-12.
Aekins brought up 50 points when he was on the end of a set play from a scrum, completing his try treble in the process.
GAMESTAR: It was hard to look past Caleb Aekins, who crossed for a hat-trick of tries and was solid at the back for Featherstone.
GAMEBREAKER: It remained close for much of the first half, but a four-try burst from Rovers in the ten minutes before the break left no realistic way back for Keighley.
MATCHFACTS
ROVERS
1 Caleb Aekins
2 Derrell Olpherts
24 Bailey O’Connor
4 Jayden Hatton
5 Gareth Gale
22 Calum Turner
13 Danny Addy
10 Jimmy Beckett
9 Will Jubb
19 Robson Stevens
11 Brad Day
15 Sitaleki Akauola
17 Clay Webb
Subs (all used)
14 Connor Jones
20 Josh Hardcastle
21 Jordan Williams
16 King Vuniyayawa
Tries: Aekins (11, 31, 76), Hatton (20, 67), Williams (33), Webb (37), Olpherts (40), Jubb (73)
Goals: Turner 8/9
COUGARS
1 Brandon Pickersgill
2 Billy Walkley
36 Ewan Smith
4 Junior Sa’u
2 Brad Holroyd
6 Izaac Farrell
7 Jack Miller
16 Jordan Schofield
9 George Flanagan
15 Dan Parker
22 Valu Tane Bentley
38 Tom Whitehead
29 Lucas Green
Subs (all used)
20 Oliver Whitford
23 Leo Aliyu
31 Charlie McKler
28 Bobby Hartley
18th man (used)
18 Ben Dean
Tries: Farrell (5), Holroyd (28)
Goals: Miller 2/2
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6, 12-6, 12-12, 18-12, 24-12, 30-12, 36-12; 42-12, 48-12, 52-12
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Rovers: Caleb Aekins; Cougars: Izaac Farrell
Penalty count: 5-5
Half-time: 36-12
Referee: Kevin Moore