Craig McShane stars as in-form Dewsbury Rams deepen Keighley Cougars’ misery

DEWSBURY RAMS 26 KEIGHLEY COUGARS 12
MATTHEW WARD, FLAIR Stadium, Sunday

DEWSBURY made it three wins on the spin and continued Keighley’s poor run of form.

Three first-half tries and a penalty-goal gave the Rams a 20-0 lead at the interval and despite Keighley responding with two tries in the second half to narrow the gap to eight points with a quarter of the game remaining, Dewsbury held on, and a late try ensured their victory.

The struggling Cougars started the game brightly and an early penalty ten metres out provided them with a strong field position. As they got to last tackle, however, Jack Miller tried a grubber kick in behind to find Izaac Farrell, but his effort was scooped up by a Dewsbury defender.

Despite their opponents’ bright start it was the Rams who troubled the scoreboard operators first. Jack McShane was first to collect a clever offload from Jamie Field and he quickly found a gap to score under the posts with Jacob Hookem adding the goal, as he did for all the Rams’ tries.

Soon afterwards they doubled their lead when Field turned from provider to scorer as he barged his way over from a short way out under the posts.

Keighley thought they had one back as a superb move found Farrell, who danced his way to the line, but his celebrations were cut short as his effort was chalked off for obstruction.

As tempers started to flare, Field grabbed his second, darting towards the middle of the posts and wriggling over amongst a host of several green-and-red shirts for an 18-point lead.

As Keighley struggled to crack the Rams’ defence, Dewsbury’s tally increased again when Hookem was presented with a chance to add an extra two points after a break was halted by a high tackle.

After being 20-0 down at the break, the Cougars rallied in the second half and even threatened a comeback.

First, an exchange of the ball near the Dewsbury line eventually presented Harry Bowes with the chance to burrow his way over to give Keighley some hope, with Miller converting.

However, signs of a comeback were nearly extinguished as Dewsbury came forward from the restart. They passed the ball wide to Liam Copland to go for the corner, but Billy Walkley heroically stewarded him into touch.

The game was temporarily paused as Bowes required some treatment after a heavy challenge.

Nerves increased after the restart for Dewsbury even more when Walkley got his team up the field with a sensational run from his own half. As the set continued, it switched out wide for Brad Holroyd, who went a short way before offloading to find Adam Ryder on the inside to go over. Miller converted and the Cougars were eyeing a remarkable comeback.

That made things nervy for the Rams in the closing 20 minutes. But as Keighley desperately searched for more points, they found the Rams impenetrable.

After battling hard in defence, the Rams rounded off a hard-earned win with a late try, with Jack McShane grabbing his second as he battled to gain space and burrowed under with Miller adding the goal.

GAMESTAR: Craig McShane led from fullback and played his part in keeping the Cougars out.

GAMEBREAKER: The game was only made safe when Jack McShane scored his late try to ensure a victory for the Rams.

MATCHFACTS
RAMS
30 Craig McShane
27 Tom Delaney
22 Liam Copland
4 George Senior
13 Dec Tomlinson
6 Dan Coates
7 Jacob Hookem
31 Jack McShane
18 Jamie Field
11 Joe Summers
15 Keenen Tomlinson
12 Matt Garside
16 Louis Collinson
Subs (all used)
14 Luke Mearns
10 Toby Everett
8 Jackson Walker
19 Jack Briggs

Tries: J McShane (13, 80), Field (17, 25)
Goals: Hookem 5/5

COUGARS
20 Oliver Whitford
2 Brad Holroyd
12 Lachlan Lanskey
3 Adam Ryder
5 Billy Walkley
6 Izaac Farrell
7 Jack Miller
8 Lewis Hatton
14 Harry Bowes
11 Brad England
22 Valu Tane Bentley
30 Nolan Tupaea
13 Aaron Brown
Subs (all used)
15 Dan Parker
10 Mark Ioane
23 Leo Aliyu
29 Lucas Green