Keighley Cougars blown away by Bradford Bulls at Odsal

All of a sudden, with Swinton and York enjoying surprise home wins over Sheffield and Halifax respectively yesterday, Keighley are now just a point clear of the Betfred Championship relegation zone.

It seems like a lifetime ago that Keighley enjoyed that incredible 34-6 win over Bulls at Cougar Park, but so much has changed since that late-March day.

Both sides have since parted ways with their head coaches, and for Keighley, their big names have started to trickle out of the building.

Since that derby win three months ago, Luke Gale, Brenden Santi, Ben Crooks and Dane Chisholm have all left the club.

And that subsequent inexperience left Keighley painfully exposed yesterday.

Any optimism ahead of kick-off quickly vanished for Keighley. (Image: JT Sports Media.)

If the 42-18 Summer Bash defeat to Bradford at the end of May was ugly, this was on a whole other level.

Bulls opened the scoring on seven minutes, when Lee Gaskell picked out Ben Blackmore to twist and claim the opening try.

The recalled AJ Wallace then shook off a challenge and raced in 35 metres to score.

Kieran Gill wasted a great chance to increase Bulls' lead, before winger Jorge Taufua went over on debut for the hosts.

When Wallace added his second, having been set up by Gaskell again, Bradford were 22-0 up inside half-an-hour, Dec Patton having made three of his four conversion attempts.

But Keighley fought back in the final 10 minutes of the half, and gave themselves a sniff when Aaron Levy went over by the posts and Harvey Spence converted.

Aaron Levy's try only gave Cougars a brief sniff of a famous comeback win. (Image: JT Sports Media.)

Any hopes of a Cougars comeback from 22-6 down at the break were soon snuffed out though, as Bulls ran riot in the second half.

James Segeyaro set up Ebon Scurr and then Hull FC loanee Connor Wynne to score, before Taufua and Gill added tries seven and eight of the afternoon.

And when debutant winger Taufua crossed for his hat-trick after reeling in Gaskell's long pass, with Patton converting, all of a sudden Bradford had hit the 50-point mark.

Gill darted in for his second score on the hour mark, before Joe Arundel found Blackmore for the winger to nab his own brace.

Keighley grabbed the smallest of consolations 10 minutes later after a rare lull in the scoring, as Charlie Graham finished well in the corner after Brad Walker's pass over the top.

But Bulls still had the last laugh, as Gill rolled over for his hat-trick and Wynne burst through for his second in the dying seconds.

It was a tough afternoon for young Cougars loanee Cole Oakley, as it was for every away player in truth. (Image: JT Sports Media.)

Having already converted nine of Bulls' previous 11 tries, Patton generously handed over kicking duties to Bodene Thompson for those final two scores.

The veteran forward is leaving the club to return home to New Zealand for family reasons, with this game marking his final appearance in a Bulls shirt.

And he marked the occasion in style, converting both Gill and Wynne's efforts to ensure a final score of 74-12.

Keighley's dreadful afternoon was compounded when Dan Parker was sent off for dissent at the death.