KEIGHLEY Cougars returned to matters on the field with 46-24 defeat to a talented young Leeds Rhinos side in the inaugural Derek Hallas Trophy.

After a winter of discontent which threatened the very existence of the club, a healthy crowd of 644 turned out to welcome in the new dawn of ‘Cougarmania’.

And despite defeat in their only run out prior to the Betfred League One opener at Whitehaven on Sunday, head coach Craig Lingard was in a positive mood.

“It was an ideal first game for us because as a coach it tells you in what areas you’ve done well and in what areas you need to improve,” admitted Lingard.

“We’ll be working on our contact in training because it wasn’t good enough and it’s going to be a lot tougher up at Whitehaven.

“It was fantastic to just get out there on the field and in an ideal world we could do with three or four more pre-season games but we haven’t got that and we’re straight into it this week.

“There’s definitely going to be improvements over the next two to three weeks but there are plenty of positives out there but there’s plenty of room for improvement as well.

“The most important thing is that we still have a Keighley Cougars.”

Both sides had early chances early with Jason Muranka denied for the Cougars before scrambling defence held Muizz Mustapha up over the line at the other end.

Leeds opened the scoring when Corey Johnson broke the line with a show and go before offloading to Liam Whitton, who raced over from close range despite the best efforts of Alfie Seeley.

The game went into a lull despite Will Cooke coming close for the home side but he was held up over the line.

The home side would draw level just short of the half hour mark as from a scrum, Benn Hardcastle showed quick hands and feet to draw a Leeds defender out the line to race through and dive over.

And just minutes later the Cougars took the lead for the only time in the match as from the play the ball, Jack Miller managed to squeeze his way through a tight gap to get over the line.

Leeds levelled the scores in the 36th minute as Harry Newman broke through two attempted tackles, managing to stretch himself over the whitewash for a try.

The visitors took the lead on the sound of the half-time hooter as Jack Broadbent managed to give the Cougars defence the slip to race round beneath the uprights to touch down.

Keighley could have considered themselves unlucky as an apparent try was ruled out for a foot in touch must to the anger of the Cougars players.

And Leeds compounded their frustrations by going the length of the field and scoring through Tom Barton, with Billy Jowitt landing the conversion as protests continued.

The hosts would get back into the game through Cooke, who turned through a tackle to score on the back of a penalty close to the Leeds line.

But a handling error from Joshua Smith was punished as Broadbent picked up the loose ball and went the length of the pitch to score.

However, after Alex Williams was taken injured with a torn hamstring, Leeds re-established their two-score lead through Tyler Dupree, who managed to get over from close range.

The visitors wrapped things up with two late tries as Whitton scored a second, before Newman also sealed a brace as he caught a Jowitt chip over the top and broke through to touch down.

PLAYER RATINGS:

COUGARS: Seeley 6; Dixon 5; A Williams 6; Cooke 6; Parry 5; Miller 6; Hardcastle 7; Bailey 5; Feather 5; Thackray 5; Lynam 5; Muranka 6; Darley 5. Subs: Welham 5; Coventry 5; Gaylor 5; Levy 5; Million 5; R Williams 5; Hallett 5; Cella 5; Cullimore 5; Smith 5; Arnold 6; Beckett 5.

RHINOS: Whitton 6; Hamill 5; Broadbent 6; Newman 6; Tindall 5; Mallinson 5; McLelland 5; Mustapha 6; Johnson 8; McConell 5; Waite-Pullen 5; Sutcliffe 5; Trout 5. Subs: Scrimshaw 5; Rowley 5; Barton 5; Dupree 7; Jowitt 6; Delaney 5; Martin 5.

COUGARS: Tries: Hardcastle (28); Miller (31); Cooke (52); Arnold (61). Goals: Hardcastle (4/4).

RHINOS: Tries: Whitton (12, 76); Newman (36, 80); Broadbent (40, 57); Barton (47); Dupree (69). Goals: Mallinson (3/3); Jowitt (4/5)

ATTENDANCE: 644

REFEREE: Andy Sweet (Castleford)