Star man Cooke leads the way for Doncaster with big points haul

Cooke helped control the game for the Dons with his intelligent handling, while props Mark Castle and Craig Robinson led the way in the pack and drove the home side forward.

Doncaster led by 30-6 at the interval following a convincing first-half display, but seemed to take their foot off the pedal in the second period before finishing strongly to emphasise their superiority.

It was Cooke who put the first points on the boards when he charged over after exchanging passes with Robinson in the seventh minute and then landed the first of eight conversions.

Loose forward Brad Crellin touched down for the visitors nine minutes later following a momentary lapse in defence, but Doncaster dominated for the rest of the half.

Lively centre Lee Waterman rounded off another good move involving Cooke and Robinson to restore the Dons’ lead in the 20th minute and then scrum-half Kieran Hyde went over on his debut five minutes later.

Kyle Kesik forced his way over from acting half-back in the 32nd minute and speedy winger Tom Hodson rounded off an excellent first-half display when he raced on to a kick from Cooke to touch down eight minutes later.

Whitehaven stepped up their game in the second half with Andreas Bauer scoring in the corner before hard-working half-back Carl Rudd touched down.

But Doncaster stamped their authority on the game again with three second-half tries.

Liam Cunningham strolled through the visitors’ defence after 52 minutes before Cooke cashed in on poor defensive play 20 minutes later. Waterman sealed victory with a surging run right at the end.

Doncaster: Butterfield, Colton, Cunningham, Waterman, Hodson, Cooke, Hyde, Castle, Emmett, Robinson, O’Laughlin, Lawton, Edwards, Substitutes: Kesik, Bibb, Hughes, Welsh.

Whitehaven: Ackerley, Bauer, Wiper, Fox, Wilson, Rudd, Karalius, Houghton, Smith, Varkulis, Isakka, Beattie, Crellin. Substitutes: Sice, Bewsher, Cullnean, Haggerty.

Referee: C Leatherbarrow (RFL)