Dudley Hill earn plaudits for second-half display as Cougars ease through (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Dudley Hill earn plaudits for second-half display as Cougars ease through

9:44pm Sunday 25th March 2012 in Cougars By Ben Turner

Bradford Dudley Hill 6, Keighley Cougars 58

Danny Lawton bagged himself four tries as Keighley demolished Dudley Hill’s dreams of a fourth-round Carnegie Challenge Cup tie this afternoon.

Cougars coach Jason Demetriou was pleased with his side’s first-half showing and now has hopes of bringing a big club to Cougar Park when the draw is made tomorrow night.

“First half we were so clinical and very good in both defence and attack,” he said.

“In the second half, I thought we were sloppy and made silly mistakes but full credit must go to Dudley Hill because they pushed us hard.

“The nil was the most important thing to us and I thought the try we conceded was really poor for our standards.

“We’re in the hat though, so hopefully we can bring a Super League team down here in round four.”

Despite a heavy defeat, Dudley Hill coach Jason Lee was overjoyed by his team’s effort.

He said: “The players could have quite easily folded like a pack of cards in the second half, with Keighley putting us to the sword in the first 40. But I was so proud of the commitment and the endeavour we showed.

“We were up against top-class players, including one or two of Super League quality, so coming up against that sort of team was always going to cause us a lot of problems."

Gavin Duffy was the first to cross on the back of Paul March’s break as Keighley began their first-half onslaught.

James Feather then played in Jesse Sheriffe for a score out wide and Danny Jones got his 1,000th career point as he converted Lawton’s first of the day.

March and Craig Moss were combining well throughout the first period against the weak Dudley Hill edge defence as they then set up Jamie Shepherd for another four-pointer.

Lawton then managed to get his second, with March again orchestrating things in the build-up Richard Jones coasted in for another try as the Cougars were showing no mercy to their amateur opponents, with Demetriou then bringing on powerhouse props Michael Korkidas and Andy Shickell.

Shickell quickly made his mark after Richard Jones’ first try, as he powered his way past three Dudley Hill defenders to get the ball down.

Richard Jones then grabbed his second to send the Cougars in 44-0 up.

The second half seemed like a completely different game as Dudley Hill gave a great account of themselves, with Anthony Huby getting himself a try in reply to Lawton’s hat-trick score.

Keighley managed to extend their lead in the final ten minutes though through Danny Jones and Lawton against the tiring Dudley Hill players to round things off.

Cougars: Moss, Duffy, Haythornthwaite, Lawton, Jesse Sheriffe, D Jones, March, Sheriffe, Feather, Cherryholme, Pursglove, R Jones, Shepherd. Subs: Coleman, Clough, Korkidas, Shickell.

Dudley Hill: Batey, Southwell, Tyman, Dickinson, Wall, Softley, Hill, Bateman, Kitson, Jefferson, Lamond, Evans, Huby. Subs: Lawton, O’Connor, Kenefick, Broadley.

Attendance: 814.

Referee: Brandon Robinson.