Keighley Cougars thrash Bradford Bulls in one-sided derby

On a watershed afternoon at Cougar Park, a shockingly one-sided Betfred Championship clash ended 34-6 in the home side's favour.

It was a third straight home win for Keighley, after victories over Newcastle and London, and means they now sit just two points behind Bulls in the table.

The hosts had suffered a heavy defeat at Halifax last time out, but started this game strongly as strong carries put the Bulls' goal line defence under pressure for the opening 15 minutes.

Fenton Rogers' yellow card and Kieran Gill's hamstring injury were early blows for the visitors, but they kept the game scoreless for 25 minutes.

Yet moments after Rogers returned to the field to get Bradford back up to their full complement, good build up play put Cougars' Alix Stephenson in the corner to score against his former side.

Alix Stephenson opened the scoring for Keighley and the floodgates opened thereafter. (Image: JT Sports Media.)

Another former Bull, Dane Chisholm, then got in on the act and took advantage of a Bradford handling error to race in under the posts to increase the advantage, converting his own score to make it 10-0.

Joe Gibbons, making his debut for the Cougars on a season-long loan from Leeds Rhinos, then added a third try for the hosts, streaking clear, holding off Tom Holmes, and powering his way over the line.

Chisholm slotted the conversion over for 16-0, before another old Bradford boy added a further nail into the Bulls coffin before the break.

Luke Gale scored his first try in front of the home faithful and with Chisholm's successful with the conversion and a penalty five minutes later, Cougars went into the interval with a scarcely believable 24-0 lead.

Dane Chisholm enjoyed a prolific afternoon with the boot. (Image: JT Sports Media.)

The opening stages of the second half were even, although it was the hosts who eventually extended their advantage.

Veteran centre Jake Webster, making his first appearance of the season, powered through a gap in the Bulls defence and offloaded to a supporting Charlie Graham, who went over in the corner.

The visitors finally got on the board as Leeds loanee Liam Tindall went over for a consolation try with five minutes to go.

But it was the Cougars who deservedly had the final say, as Robbie Storey crashed over in the dying seconds to score his ninth try of the season.

Chisholm converted that to ensure that first competitive win over their local rivals in nearly 80 years, all in front of an enormous 4,793 crowd, by far Cougars' biggest attendance of the season.

This might have been one last hurrah on the big stage for Jake Webster, but if it was, he did himself proud in front of a near-5,000 crowd. (Image: JT Sports Media.)

The two sides meet again on May 28 at the LNER Community Stadium in York for the Summer Bash.

BY STEVEN WATKINSON