Valley Cougars are on the top of the RFL Conference League South after coming back from 12-0 down at Leicester Storm to win 32-24.
Last year’s champions were boosted by the inclusion of player-coach Dafydd Hellard who celebrated his return to the Cougars’ side by scoring a hat-trick of tries.
Fellow Scorpions first team squad member Craig Lewis also went over the whitewash while perennial try scorer Danyl Davies notched a brace.
But the Cougars were up against things from the start after Frank Barlow got Leicester’s first try inside the opening minute.
Roddy Jones followed him over 12 minutes later and with Mark Etherington converting both, the Cougars needed a quick try to get back into the game.
That only took three minutes after Davies had run over for his first, converted by Ross Jones, the first of four goals for him.
By half-time, the Cougars were 22-12 up following Lewis’ score and Hellard’s first two but early in the second half, Lewis Flack pulled a try back for Leciester with Etherington converting to bring the score back to 22-18.
It was a tough second half which ended two tries all. Hellard further increased the Cougars’ lead before a converted Alex Williams try brought the margin back to four points again, Etherington keeping up his 100% kicking record.
However Davies’ second seven minutes before the end completed the scoring.