27 August 2023

Table topping Featherstone Rovers moved one step closer to the League Leaders Shield despite not having things all their own way against a determined Keighley outfit that tackled hard in the opening thirty minutes. At that point Rovers led only 6-0, a 70 metre sprint from Mark Kheirallah, but two further tries before the break left Rovers comfortably ahead at half-time. First Chris Hankinson raced 60 metres after picking up a loose ball. Neat play from Gareth Gale at acting half-back saw him place the ball down. Straight from the re-start, Rovers moved the ball for Gale to sprint clear and Connor Jones in support ended a thrilling move. Three first half conversions from Kheirallah put Featherstone 18-0 up.

Rovers opened the second half in devasting form as John Davies stepped through and found Jones in support again. At this stage, Rovers looked set for a big score but, credit to the Cougars, there were just three more, all unconverted, tries in the half. Joey Leilua offloaded for Kheirallah’s second try, and later the big centre powered through for a try of his own. After Keighley’s consolation score, Rovers had the last word when the prolific Gale strolled over for his second after good work in the forwards.