KEIGHLEY COUGARS 56 NEWCASTLE THUNDER 0
TOM KELLY, Cougar Park, Sunday
WINGER Andy Gabriel grabbed four tries, including a first-half hat-trick, as Keighley ran in ten in total to end their home fixture list on a high.
It meant more misery for Newcastle, who suffered a 15th defeat in as many league outings this season.
The Cougars started in style with Gabriel going over after a brilliant offload from star man Matty Beharrell after a penalty given against Thunder, one of his former teams.
Beharrell, originally a Hull KR product and back at Keighley for a second spell after switching from Hunslet, landed the first of his eight conversions, the haul taking him past 1,500 career points, 222 of which came with the north-east side.
Keighley continued to dominate the contest with continuous line breaks from George Flanagan and Jack Teanby.
This pressure told in the shape of another Gabriel touchdown, with a poor defensive attempt from Thunder and a dropped ball on the last tackle.
Gabriel struck again and wily hooker George Flanagan nipped in from dummy-half.
Izaac Farrell also found a gap and eased through to tee up a simple third goal for Beharrell.
Brad England got onto the scoresheet with a great ball from the busy Beharrell setting him up. Beharrell’s conversion made it 32-0 at half-time.
Keighley didn’t start the second half the way they would have wanted to, with some handling errors giving some hope of a score to Newcastle, whose pack included dual-registration York duo Bailey Antrobus and Jacob Gannon and Castleford loanees Woody Walker and Alfie Horwell.
Jake Dickinson was forced into touch by a posse of Keighley players, leading to a skirmish and a yellow card for his teammate Evan Lawther.
His side still managed to mount some attacks, but to no avail as Keighley got their scoring spree back on track.
Connor Sayner counted, and Gabriel streaked through leaving a string of opponents in his wake to finish off his quartet of tries.
Oli Burton and Dan Parker also pounced, and Beharrell improved each second-half score.
GAMESTAR: Keighley winger Andy Gabriel’s first-half hat-trick set the tone.
GAMEBREAKER: Keighley’s two early tries under the first 10 minutes set the tone for the rest of the game giving the home side an expected 2 point victory.
MATCHFACTS
COUGARS
32 Connor Sayner
2 Brad Holroyd
4 Junior Sa’u
3 Adam Ryder
42 Andy Gabriel
6 Izaac Farrell
43 Matty Beharrell
10 Mark Ioane
9 George Flanagan
33 Jack Teanby
11 Brad England
12 Lachlan Lanskey
29 Lucas Green
Subs (all used)
44 Oli Burton
15 Dan Parker
16 Jordan Schofield
19 Junior Nuu
Tries: Gabriel (5, 13, 20, 55), Flanagan (23), Farrell (28), England (37), Sayner (47), Burton (63), Parker (73)
Goals: Beharrell 8/10
THUNDER
1 Brad Ward
2 Leo Bradley
5 Sean Croston
4 Evan Lawther
3 Jake Dickinson
6 Elliot Shaw
7 Charlie Yeomans
8 Woody Walker
9 Alfie Horwell
18 Tobias Gibson
12 Bailey Antrobus
11 Jacob Gannon
13 Tyler Walton
Subs (all used)
14 Tom Siddle
15 Harry Price
16 Lloyd Hall
17 David Weetman
Sin bin: Lawther (45) – pushing
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 10-0, 14-0, 20-0, 26-0, 32-0; 38-0, 44-0, 50-0, 56-0
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Cougars: Andy Gabriel; Thunder: Bailey Antrobus
Penalty count: 3-7
Half-time: 32-0
Referee: Milo McKelvey
Attendance: 978