WOLVES comfortably lead their Championship One opposition Keighley Cougars by 34-0 after a dominating first half at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

After an impressive opening 15 minutes for the semi-professional visitors, Wolves’ fitness shone through and they moved effortlessly clear of Keighley with several tries in the final 20 minutes of the half.

Only the injury of Ben Harrison looks to have taken the shine off a fine opening period for the defending champions, as the loose forward was carried from the field after sustaining an injury to his left leg.

As expected, Wolves had not enjoyed possession for long before they put themselves on the board. A kick return from Chris Riley put them in a good position on the half way line, and slick passing saw the ball moved left from the play-the-ball. David Solomona’s cut-out pass found Matt King on the wing and he accelerated into space to go clear of the Cougar’s defence. Ryan Atkins was waiting inside for the return ball and he breezed over after only two minutes, with Lee Briers converting from in front of the posts.

After conceding early, Keighley managed to rally and secure their shaky defence for the next 10 minutes. Wolves were constantly applying pressure in their rival’s half, but apart from Ben Harrison’s disallowed try following an impressive Rhys Williams flick, Keighley held strong.

Things took a turn for the worse for the hosts on 10 minutes, as Ben Harrison was carried from the field after a sustaining a serious-looking injury close to the Keighley line.

Despite the quick start for the hosts, Cougars had done a good job in keeping them quiet until 18 minutes in. Their defence had improved as the game had gone on, but they could not contain the clever play of Lee Briers and his diagonal grubber found a gap for Simon Grix to drop on the ball. As the heavens opened and a deluge fell on the Halliwell Jones pitch, Paul Wood quickly added a third with a surprising turn of pace and Briers tagged on both conversions to stretch the lead to 18 after 21 minutes.

Wolves were comfortable in possession as the visitors struggled to get out of their half. It was really only a matter of time before Tony Smith’s men stretched their lead and they did so when Mike Cooper was the beneficiary of a nice interchange between Mickey Higham and Lee Briers after 28 minutes. He ran a clever line through the gap and Briers flicked a short pass for the prop to burst over the line. They were over again moments later, as Gareth O’Brien fed Simon Grix and Ryan Atkins was again on hand to score an easy second. Briers added both conversions from in front of the posts and Wolves were sitting comfortable at 30-0 with 10 minutes remaining.

There was still time for Wolves to extend their lead before half time as Lee Briers and Matt King exploited the tiring Cougar legs to score on the stroke of half time. Matt King seemed to fumble an offload from Rhys Williams, but was able to send the ball to Lee Briers, who took on the line with gusto and twisted over to seal an excellent first half performance.

Wolves: Chris Riley; Rhys Williams, Matty Blythe, Ryan Atkins, Matt King; Lee Briers, Gareth O'Brien; Garreth Carvell, Mickey Higham, Mike Cooper, David Solomona, Simon Grix, Ben Harrison. Subs: Michael Monaghan, Adrian Morley, Paul Wood, Rhys Evans.

Keighley Cougars: Gavin Duffy; Ben Sagar, Danny Lawton, Chris Baines, James Hutchinson; Jason Demetriou, Ryan Smith; Andy Shickell, James Feather, Ryan Benjafield, Will Cartledge, Olly Pursglove, Jamie Shepherd. Subs: Jamaine Wray, Rick Barr, Scott Law, Greg Nicholson.