Cleckheaton turned on the style with a powerful eight try performance which ultimately overwhelmed a gallant Alnwick side and put them back at the top of North One East. The home team’s intent was clear from the outset with a second minute Ross Hayden penalty and a fifth minute drop goal from Michael Piper opening the proceedings. The conditions were perfect for running rugby and with confidence high following an unbeaten start to the season when victories have been gained when not always firing on all cylinders, hopes were high that Cleckheaton could regain the top spot with a little help from Rochdale who were hosting leaders West Hartlepool. Play was fast and furious with the strong home forwards, even without one of their leading lights Ryan Piercy, driving into the beleaguered Alnwick defence. Subsequent tries from James Marshall, Rob Afoa Petersen , his first for the club, and two from leading try scorer Richard Piper with Ross Hayden adding two conversions, opened up a thirty point lead prior to the break. Some of the interplay between backs and forwards had been a joy to watch and the consensus was that it had been Cleckheaton’s most complete half of the season.
Much to their credit Alnwick hit back with a dazzling try from stand off James Warcup converted by James Bird and immediately after the break reduced the arrears further with a try from prop Ben Boothman. Cleckheaton soon regained the upper hand with two tries from the ever dangerous Ross Hayden, both of which he converted. Hayden appears now to be at his best and with the further responsibility now given to him as the team’s goalkicker he is one of the key individuals in a side which looks comfortable and confident to launch a promotion push. As Alnwick tired Cleckheaton finished off with two more excellent tries from Matt Piper and Ollie Akroyd with Ross Hayden adding his fifth conversion of the afternoon.
It had been a long afternoon for the Northumberland visitors but it was clear that Cleckheaton had stepped up a gear from previous weeks and at times some of the skills on view were irresistible. Mention could be made of individual performances and the power of Richard Piper, the lineout skills of Ollie Akroyd and the sublime footwork and handling skills of Ross Hayden are weekly occurrences. However, it is the collective which is important and each week a different player puts his hand up and this week was no exception with hooker Ben Thrower being awarded the man of the match pint which he had no problem in downing in 3.4 seconds to gain an easy victory over Alnwick’s man of the match Ian Gray even though he was only a scrum half.
The team has momentum and it will be tested with a vengeance in the coming weeks with tough games against Wheatley Hills on Saturday followed by West Hartlepool, Huddersfield YMCA and the only other unbeaten side in the league Pocklington.