18 April 2014

In the early exchanges of the game the two defences locked each other out, before Etu Uaisele eventually broke the deadlock quarter of an hour in, hitting a lofted Gareth Moore pass at speed, then steaming past the stumbling Richie Barnett to take the lead. Three tries within the space of five minutes then all but ended the contest. Paul March tgave a loose pass from the scrum, which Cording was aware to and was able to offload out to Worthington. Then Andy Ellis broke into opposition territory from acting half, before giving the ball to Hardman on his outside. James Mendeika then raced downfield, and gifted the ball inside to Kain, who went on to score to the left of the posts. Moore then added the extras to take the lead to unassailable twenty-two points. In the face of adversity Jack Lee showed character weaving through, allowing Jesse Sheriffe to send Paul White in. The late score did not trouble the Rovers, as they retained a commanding lead.

The home side maintained their momentum when Will Sharp received a Mendeika offload inside three minutes of the second half. He then proceeded to shrug off his man, slice through the defence and curve around the fullback, before diving in at the right corner to post another offering for try of the season. It then appeared they were in down the other side, when Worthington produced a sublime offload to Uaisele, only for Etu to pass straight into the hands of opposing wingman Barnett. Kyle Briggs’ grubber kick to the left was pounced on by Mendeika to extend the lead. Despite resilient defence from the visitors Rovers’ class eventually told, when the ball was shifted wide Mendeika hit the ball at pace, sold a dummy and flew in down the right channel.

Keighley then gave the travelling support something to cheer as Danny Jones secured his side’s second of the night.