Cleckheaton 35 - 29 Middlesborough

Exciting open rugby, missed tackles, yellow cards and great individual skills; just some of the things on offer at Moorend last Saturday. Two players made their home debuts, Namibian centre Marthinus (Tinus)Venter and South African back row David Malton. Ian Gresser and Craig Rika returned to the second row and player coaches John Dudley and Doug Trivella stayed on the touchline to observe proceedings objectively.

Middlesbrough opened brightly and in the 8th minute scrum half Peter Wright went over for a try which was converted by Calam Campbell. Cleck were secure in the tight scrum and were putting the Boro eight under pressure. In the 11th minute the award of a penalty was expected to be given to the usually reliable Ross Hayden to open Cleck's account. Instead the penalty was kicked to the corner and the pressure was relieved when possession was lost, but good play by the back row led to Ben Wade driving over to open Cleckheaton's account. Ross Hayden converted.

Boro were next to to have an opportunity but Campbell missed with the penalty attempt. On 30 minutes Cleck hooker Bossy Muller broke out in open play, the ball was off-loaded to Ross Hayden who in turn gave the ball to the supporting Matt Piper to score an excellent try under the posts. Hayden added the conversion.

In the 36th minute Richard Piper was sent to the sin bin for foul play and from the resultant penalty Boro's Campbell kicked the goal. As half time approached Cleck renewed their efforts and created an attacking scrum on the visitors 22. Quick ball enabled Zac Hill to dummy across the defensive line and as the Boro defence drifted too far the No10 burst through untouched to score another fine individual effort. Ross Hayden kept up his high consistency rate with the conversion.

The informed half time opinion was mixed but most believed that Cleck would go on to widen the gap between the teams. The curse of expectancy once again reared it's ugly head. Boro were first to score when full back Campbell chose an excellent line to score wide out; his own conversion attempt going wide. On 47 minutes Ben Wade muscled his way over for his second try of the match. Ross Hayden once more converted. The omens were even more promising on the hour mark when a bout of inter-passing took play sixty yards up the stand side touchline, with skipper Craig Rika giving the final pass to the hardworking hooker Muller to go over for the try. Hayden's excellent conversion from wide out pushed the margin to 20 points and Cleck were apparently home and dry.

Boro are however, not a side to be underestimated. Although their pack was outweighed by the Cleck eight, their young backs were incisive and had pace. As play became more open and forwards were finding themselves in positions they shouldn't really be in, Boro hit back with a fifty yard interception try by Matt Wright and a good effort from centre Paul Norris both of which were converted by Calam Campbell.

Whilst the euphoria of a vital win should not be negated, the enigma that is this Cleckheaton squad must also be assessed. One minute brilliant, one minute careless. The team probably contains some of the best individual players in the league. However,elementary errors,some poor decision-making, poor discipline and organisation which has resulted in Cleck having the worst defensive record in the league, has to be rectified by the players themselves. This team is far better than results would suggest and it is surely only a matter of time before it puts together a run of impressive performances.