Cleckheaton 45 - 17 Northern

Cleckheaton effectively won this match in the first half with a five try blitz including a hat trick from centre James Wilson. His first try in the sixth minute owed a lot to fellow centre Matt Piper who fielded a kick out of defence at pace, drove past several would be defenders to feed the supporting Wilson on his inside who then romped home from thirty metres out. Ross Hayden converted and the Cleckheaton bandwagon was gathering momentum. At times the home side’s display was irresistible with pace power and skill combined. Two further tries from the league’s leading points scorer Ross Hayden within the space of seven minutes one of which he converted, increased the pressure on the beleaguered Northern side. Despite the visitors gaining a foothold in the Cleckheaton half for several try scoring opportunities the renowned Cleckheaton defence was not breached and the only reward for the hard working Northern side in the first half was a penalty from Donal Collins. Wilson’s hat trick was completed in the 37th and 39th minutes with two fine tries which again owed much to Cleckheaton’s expansive intent and clinical execution of the basics. The home crowds’ appreciation of the efforts of the players at the break was in true recognition of the quality on view.
The second half was no less frenetic but the visitors came more into the game with two deserved tries from scrum half Sam Thorne and full back Alex Clarke both converted by Donal Collins. However, Cleckheaton emphasised their overall dominance with two further tries from skipper Richard Piper and player coach Rob Afoa Petersen both converted by Ross Hayden. Both scores came directly from the forwards perfectly constructed rolling mauls which the Northern pack were unable to combat. Cleckheaton’s lineout had functioned well all afternoon with Oliver Akroyd and man of the match Ryan Piercy dominant in an encouraging forward display. Add to this the highly positive performances of teenagers Alex Dawson and Jack Seddon when they were introduced from the bench combined to provide a very satisfactory afternoon for the Cleckheaton team and its off field support.
Cleckheaton are now the league’s leading points scorers, have in Ross Hayden the league’s leading individual points scorer, in Richard Piper the league’s second leading try scorer and the team as a whole has gained the highest number of bonus points and scored the most tries in North One East. Only statistics but if continued could lead to a big promotion push in the new year. Nothing has been achieved yet but the players are playing with the confidence and clinical execution required from a side which aspires to play at a higher level.
Further good news came from the Kestrels camp with a very young side ( thirteen players under 20 ) defeating Selby in a friendly away from home .The thirds beat the same opponents by the same score as the first team 45-17 and the fourths went down narrowly at Selby.