Cleckheaton made the league leaders work hard for the spoils at Dore Moor but eventually the promotion hopefuls showed their class and secured the five points that their supporters, players and coaching staff were probably expectant of before the game kicked off. Cleckheaton welcomed Josh Malkinson back to the fold after a number of weeks off whilst he had some precautionary tests but we are delighted to say that he has been given the green light to continue putting in the hard yards for Cleckheaton. The team started brightly and took the game to Sheffield in the opening exchanges but could not get anything on the scoreboard to show for their efforts. Tigers gained territory as Cleckheaton once again racked up the penalties but despite several midfield runs, they could not get through the West Yorkshire men’s steely defence. Half way through the first period the deadlock was broken when Tigers put together a catch and drive from close range and Will Bennett went in for a try, converted by Mark Ireland. Despite Cleckheaton putting in an honest defensive effort, Tigers' advantage was doubled when a clever inside ball opened up the defence and Henri Packard went through a gap for try number two. Mark Ireland once again added the conversion. Cleckheaton worked hard to get up field and put pressure on the Tigers’ line but often kicked away ball cheaply and with a minute left in the first half, a mazy run from centre Jamie Broadley bamboozled Cleckheaton’s defence for Tigers’ third try. The conversion was missed but at half time the home side led 19-0

Cleckheaton regrouped at the interval and playing downhill in the 2nd half put in an encouraging display. They retained possession well with Tigers having to work very hard to get any ball. Jack Seddon worked tirelessly and frustrated the Tigers at every opportunity. James Wilson had a good game and put in a number of cover tackles, whilst Matt Piper ran the ball in hard in centre field time and time again. Cleckheaton found themselves camped in Tigers’ 22 on numerous occasions but could not get over. Often this was because patience ran out and kicks were used rather than continuing with the steady bashing of their way up field, which had been their best tactic. Tigers line out was disrupted a number of times with Luke Pearson and Ryan Piercy making it a hard afternoon for their opposite numbers and the league leaders, despite having pace and power all over the park, repeatedly had the attacking manoeuvres thwarted. Just as the game looked to be heading for a scoreless second half, Tigers got a scrum deep within Cleckheaton territory. The scrum went to ground twice with Tigers being awarded a penalty each time and when a player was caught offside as Tigers broke from the back of the scrum, the referee headed for the sticks and award a penalty try. Ireland did the the honours with the conversion and Sheffield won the game 26-0.

The Cleckheaton squad should take some heart from this performance despite a convincing win for Tigers on the scoreboard. There was no massive gulf between the sides though Sheffield clearly had the extra quality, the extra 10 percent, which has made them clear leaders at the half way stage this year. Cleckheaton welcome Lymm on Saturday, a side that they lost to in the eightieth minute in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, this is great opportunity to kick start their 2016 league campaign and hopefully the players can grab it with both hands.