Cleckheaton made a promising start to this fixture away at 5th place Wirral RUFC and were leading at the interval but mistakes and penalties gave the home side the advantage and they scored 4 unanswered 2nd half tries to run away with the score line.

Cleckheaton started brightly, warming the travelling crowd in the winter sunshine, with a strong defensive effort backed up with some decent running rugby. Recent signing Michael Hayward, who had previously played for Wheatley Hills had an excellent second game for the club and went in for the first try of the day. Good pressure from Cleckheaton’s forwards 10 minutes in, earned them a 5m scrum. Fast hands along the back line seconds later, culminated in the winger sprinting for the corner and twisting his way to the line. Hayward was also involved in Cleckheaton’s next score after making a 50m break up field. Cleck recycled well but were illegally prevented from getting the ball out quickly and Ronan Evans added a penalty goal to give the Moorenders an 8-0 lead. Cleckheaton could have gone further ahead but Lee Queeley was deemed held up over the line following a powerful run. On the half hour mark Wirral responded when scrum half Joe Murray went in for an unconverted try. Cleckheaton had to weather a storm when Matt Piper received a yellow card for not releasing, after the referee had issued a team warning for several contact-area transgressions. To make matters worse Ryan Piercy was also sin-binned 5 minutes later when he tried to intercept a Wirral pass but the ball went to ground. The referee deemed the incident to be deliberate and reduced Cleckheaton to 13 men. However with scrambling defence, they kept Wirral out until half time and changed ends with an 8-5 lead.

The second half did not go to plan and was a combination of Cleckheaton coughing up possession cheaply and Wirral converting all the chances that this gave them into points. First a box kick was charged down just inside Cleck’s half, rather than bouncing into touch or landing at the feet of a Cleck player, the ball landed right in the bread basket of Wirral’s speedy winger for a try to give them the lead. Wirral back rower Rob Pearl, then got his toe on a loose ball minutes after the restart and chased up field. A wicked bounce wrong footed Cleckheaton’s defender and Pearl kicked on again before diving on the ball in the in goal area. Another quick try for Wirral’s pack gave the home side a 24-8 lead all within the space of 15 minutes of the break. Cleckheaton were deflated but not down and out and mustered a couple of good runs up field via Luke Pearson, who had just joined the fray from the bench and a few minutes later, by Jack Seddon, with both breaking through the Wirral defence and going on barn-storming forays. On both Occasions the team were not able to turn this into tries, which would have got them back in the game. Penalties seemed to come thick and fast to thwart Cleckheaton’s progress. Wirral on the other hand, took their opportunities well and two more long range attacks on Cleckheaton territory garnered them12 more points, leaving Cleckheaton well beaten and still without a win away from home this season.

This was a tough result for the Moorenders against a team they beat both home and away last season. Confidence is at a low ebb at present, whilst the conceded penalty count is running high, as individuals try too hard and show their frustrations. This week the team have a break from league action and can hopefully re-discover some of that mojo they need to gain the wins and lift them up the league table.