Keighley Cougars 16 Halifax 30: Keighley are punished by dominant Halifax

Sam Barlow was the first to go over for the visitors, with the big front row bursting through a gap far too easily early on in the game.

Fax’s defence seemed to be holding out well until Jy-mel Coleman’s offload from nowhere put Paul March and Jason Demetriou in a position to combine and get James Haythornthwaite over in the corner.

Halifax were still the dominant side throughout, though, which they proved as Sean Penkywicz scooted his way through for a deserved try.

Paul Handforth’s pass, which picked out Ryan Fieldhouse on the inside for another four-pointer, was probably the most decisive moment of the match, with a length-of-the-field team try finished off by Fieldhouse for his second following soon afterwards.

Keighley hit back with a sweeping move out wide that eventually saw Demetriou over, but that was just papering over the cracks, as Paterson then crossed from long range to put the visitors well out of sight.

The home side rallied late on with Richie Barnett latching on to kicks through by Sam Obst and James Feather, but there will have to be a big improvement if Demetriou’s men stand any chance of knocking Featherstone out of the Northern Rail Cup on Thursday night.

Keighley Cougars: Moss, Barnett, Haythornthwaite, Lawton, Jessejo Sherrife, Jones, Obst, Jode Sheriffe, Feather, Korkidas, Pursglove, Shepherd, March. Substitutes: Coleman, Demetriou, Rawlins, Shickell

Halifax: Fieldhouse, Worrincy, Paterson, Haley, White, Handforth, Thackeray, Ambler, Penkywicz, Manning, Divorty, Barlow. Substitutes: Ashall, Gannon, Robinson, Aizue

Referee: C Sharrad (RFL).