Keighley Cougars 24, Rochdale Hornets 20

Jason Demetriou made an ideal start to life in the Keighley hot-seat after winning their pre-season opener.

The Cougars defeated Championship One rivals Rochdale Hornets 24-20 thanks to a James Hutch-inson try a minute from time.

Gav Duffy, Jamaine Wray and Danny Lawton scored the hosts’ other tries, while Paul Drake kicked three goals and Dan Belcher one.

“It was a good start and, although we needed a late try, we were dominant in a lot of areas,” said Deme-triou.

“They scored two of their tries from kicks, which shows our defence was generally good. The only errors we made came from trying new things I have introduced but I expected that.

“We only had two sessions to work on those things so I was extremely happy with what they showed.

“Especially with the limited field work we’ve done, it’s good to get a game.”

Following the departures of Danny Jones and Jonny Presley, Keighley fielded an unfamiliar combination of Luke Helliwell and Ryan Smith at half-back.

Paul Drake also spent time in the halves and Demetriou – who only started work as the Cougars’ head coach on Tuesday – was encouraged by the contributions made by all three.

He said: “We had two new half-backs so, regardless of whether I was introducing new things, it was always going to be tough.

“They all acquitted themselves well and Drakey had a very good second half.

“He’s coming from the amateur game but defensively he was extremely good and he was calm and controlled with the ball.”

Demetriou also reserved praise for Hutchinson after moving him into the centres. Although Hutchinson spent last season on the wing, his new boss believes he can become a star in a more central position.

“I tried to use players in different positions, like moving James Hutchinson to centre, where he hasn’t played before,” said Deme-triou.

“Defensively he’s got some issues to work on but they are things I think I can help him with, having played centre myself. I think he could be one of the finds of the season there.”