Keighley Cougars 3 Warrington Wolves 74: Battling Cougars are praised by Wolves boss

Smith took no chances against the Kingstone Press Championship part-timers, fielding 11 members of the side that beat Leeds in last August’s Wembley final, and he was rewarded with a ruthless display that brought a 74-4 victory at Cougar Park.

Centre Ryan Atkins scored four of the holders’ 13 tries while 19-year-old prop Glenn Riley marked his senior debut with a well-taken touchdown.

The Wolves led only 26-0 at half-time but, playing downhill with the wind at their backs, they stepped up a gear at the start of the second half, scoring six tries in a 14-minute purple patch.

“The first half probably took its toll on our opponents,” said Smith. “The floodgates opened for a little while but they didn’t throw the towel in by any means. They kept fighting and scored a try and almost got another at the end.

“All credit to Keighley. That’s our third year in a row with them and they’re getting sick of us. But they showed a lot of fortitude.”

Warrington wingers Chris Riley and Rhys Williams both scored two tries apiece and Brett Hodgson finished with 26 points from a try and 11 conversions.

Keighley were trailing 62-0 when full-back Paul White scored their solitary try but player-coach Paul March insists his players ought to be proud of their performance.

“I hope we get someone else next year,” he said. “You always want to play against the best and they certainly brought their best team. We’ll take a lot out of today. We’ve played against some of the best players in the world.

“We battled away for 80 minutes, even though the scoreline suggests we didn’t.

“We came into this game with four wins out of four and full of confidence and it’s up to us now to make that sure that confidence hasn’t been knocked out of us.”

Keighley: White, Duffy, Williams, Lawton, Barnett, Jones, March, Hesketh, Feather, J. Sheriffe, Pursglove, Sagar, Rawlins. Substitutes: Shickell, Chandler, Parkinson, Patchett.

Warrington: Hodgson, C. Riley, J. Monaghan, Atkins, Williams, O’Brien, Myler, Harrison, Higham, Carvell, Waterhouse, D. Bridge, Currie. Substitutes: M. Monaghan, Cooper, McCarthy, G. Riley.

Referee: J Child (England).