Batley 56, Keighley Cougars 4

Barry Eaton vowed to bounce straight back into the Championship after seeing his Cougars side condemned to relegation.

Keighley went to neighbours Batley still hoping to pull off a miraculous escape but were comprehensively beaten as Bulldogs ran in 11 tries.

Having held their hosts for 20 minutes, Cougars found themselves 18-0 down at half-time. Eaton was left fuming after a kick from Batley’s Gareth Moore hit Will Cartledge on the back of the head and another set of six saw the hosts score their second try.

Though not affecting the result, he admitted the incident had left his players frustrated and they never recovered as the hosts piled up the points after the break.

Johnny Campbell scored an eight-minute hat-trick either side of the interval, with Josh Griffin, Jason Walton (2), Moore, Ian Preece (2) Lee Greenwood and Kris Lythe also touching down.

Gav Duffy gained small consolation for a battling performance by notching Cougars’ try but Danny Jones record-breaking scoring run of 51 games finally came to an end.

Eaton said: “We’ll start making plans for next year.

“The squad is more than capable of bouncing back.

“I am still proud of the boys on and off the field. They’ve been a pleasure to work with and, if we can get everyone on board for next season, we can bounce straight back.”

Cougars will be joined by Whitehaven, who were also relegated yesterday without playing a match when rivals Dewsbury ensured their own survival with a shock 30-6 win at third-placed Leigh.

Dewsbury never looked back after racing into a 24-0 lead thanks to tries from Bryn Powell (2), Ed Barber and Pat Walker.

Hooker Dave McConnell pulled a try back for the Centurions, who missed out on the chance to go second in the table.

Featherstone put one hand on the League Leaders’ Shield despite suffering a 32-30 home defeat by Sheffield Eagles.

Rovers went down for only the second time this year but their losing bonus point puts them nine points clear of second-placed Halifax, who have three matches left.

Menzie Yere scored twice in the first 12 minutes and went on to complete his hat-trick in the surprise win.