Sheffield Eagles 60, Keighley Cougars 0 - New coach Gary Moorby was left in no doubt about the size of the task facing him as Cougars suffered another huge defeat.

As they slumped off the Don Valley pitch, the Keighley side looked totally dejected. And after leaving a sombre dressing room Moorby declared: "The hard work starts now."

In their last 80 minutes of rugby the team has conceded 126 points without reply and for much of yesterday's game they looked determined not to score, throwing away their meagre possession.

"I was very, very disappointed with the scoreline, but rugby league is a harsh sport," said Moorby.

"We could look for excuses, but the bottom line is that we have a very thin squad and the 17 players that lined up today were the only 17 that were fit.

"At the moment there is no competition for places, but I have made my first two signings and we are looking to make more."

The writing was on the wall in the opening minute when only a desperate tackle stopped the Eagles scoring.

But the respite was brief as Neil Kite dropped on a high ball wide on the right which was fumbled by Keighley's defence.

They held out for almost 20 minutes before former Cougar star Matt Foster sprinted over on the left and Gavin Brown added the second of his eight conversions. Three minutes later Lee Trasler was on hand to accept a pop-up pass from Gareth Dobson and dive over.

Richard Goddard added the final try of the first half by outpacing Keighley's left wing men.

The 24-0 half-time score line was bad enough, but there was worse to come as the Cougar defence totally collapsed. Eagles ran in seven more tries, and only three missed conversions kept the score below Huddersfield's New Year hammering.

Wayne Freeman opened the fresh onslaught after just four minutes and notched up a second before the Keighley side had drawn breath. Foster raced away from inside his own 20-metre area for the second and Freeman accepted another fumbled high ball to complete his hat-trick.

Brown's final conversion took the score to 48-0 and the Eagles were relishing the opportunity to score at will.

Gareth Dobson sold an outrageous dummy to stroll home and Andy Brent cruised over the whitewash before Craig Brown completed the scoring.

Eagles: Poynter; Wells, Kite, Craig Brown, Foster, Gavin Brown, Callaghan, Howison, Dobson, Trasler, Kershaw, Freeman, Wayne Flynn. Substitutes (all used): Goddard, Brent, Adams, Bruce.

Cougars: Rushforth, Durham, Hooson, Smith, Mitchell, Fearon, Ashton, Stephenson, Firth, Hannah, David Foster, Banks, Wilkes. Substitutes (all used): Fellers, Morphet, Ekis, Moore.

Referee: Michael Dawber (Wigan).

Attendance: 1,489