Keighley Cougars 18 Batley Bulldogs 38: Battling Batley pounce as Keighley fade away

Bulldogs controlled things early on, as Ben Black walked straight through a gap to touch down.

But, despite their dominance in the opening stages, they failed to take full advantage, and Cougars made them pay through Paul White.

James Haley then scooted over from dummy half to give the home side the lead and Jason Walton was then sent to the bin for a high tackle, which helped Keighley further extend their advantage, as White went in for his second to extend their lead at half-time.

The second half then started in similar fashion to the first, with the visitors taking charge, as Gareth Moore fed Ayden Faal in for the try.

A high shot close to the hosts’ line then saw Moore slot over a penalty to level the scores, but a mistake from the visitors was seized upon by Jode Sheriffe, who battled his way to the line.

A 40-20 from Moore then gave him and Black the platform to send in Walton to cut the deficit to two, and George Flanagan then gave them the lead, cleverly going over from dummy half.

And, despite pushing for it late on, the home outfit did not manage to muster up another score, with Batley winning at a canter after Jones was sin-binned.

Firstly, Walton went over for his second and a brilliant play was eventually finished by Moore, with Tom Hemingway crossing to put the icing on the cake with the hooter sounding.

Keighley Cougars: Jones; Lawton, Haley, Williams, White; March, Leatherbarrow; Hesketh, Feather, Patchett, Sagar, Chandler, Rawlins. Substitutes: Shickell, Sherrife, Reed, Parkinson.

Batley Bulldogs: Potts; Blackmore, Walton, Faal, Johnson; Black, Moore; Smith, Flanagan, Fleming, Bretherton, Walmsley, Lindsay. Substitutes: Applegarth, Hirst, Hemingway, Mullally.

Referee: D Merrick (RFL).

Papua New Guinea centre Jessie Joe Parker scored a hat-trick of tries in Whitehaven’s 62-16 win over Championship One team London Skolars at the New River Stadium.