Pocklington 20 - 43 Cleckheaton

Cleckheaton returned to winning ways at Feathers Field with a six try display of quality rugby.

Ross Hayden opened the scoring for the visitors with a penalty inside five minutes but his side were dealt an early blow when hooker Ben Thrower had to leave the field with a knee injury. He was replaced by teenager James Crowther who has had first team game time this season but without having had a starting place. Crowther's role was to prove vital in his team's overall performance and it is much to his credit that he retained his composure under considerable pressure.

Pocklington are always a handful on their own pitch and they soon replied with a penalty from full back Charlie Allen.The visitors looked to be in a determined mood and as the half progressed gradually gained control with powerful forward play creating field positions for scoring opportunities. Tries followed from Andy Piper and James Wilson both of which were converted by Ross Hayden.The first forty minutes of play had shown that there was to be no hangover from the disappointing defeat the previous week and the big Cleckheaton following were both encouraged and delighted with the performance.

Pocklington hit back straight from the restart when back row Jack Holbrough caught the kick off and made thirty yards into the Cleckheaton 22. The ball was carried further and wing Tim Nixon dived over for his team's first try which was converted by Charlie Allen. Five minutes later the pressure was intensified when Allen kicked his second penalty. Now was the time for the team to show it's mettle.

The reaction was the performance of a champion team.The pack intensified it's efforts driving their opponents back in the set scrums and Ollie Akroyd dominating the line. The game became more open as the Pocklington side tired with their defensive stint and the visitors took their opportunities with tries from Ollie Akroyd, Rob Afoa-Peterson and Ollie Depledge with two Ross Hayden conversions putting them out of sight.

With five minutes to go Ross Hayden capped another excellent individual display with a try which he converted and although Pocklington completed the scoring with a last minute converted try nothing could take the shine off an excellent performance from the whole team.

This was a great reaction to last week's big disappointment and all the players should be very proud of their individual performances. As the Cleckheaton Chairman Neil Gillan concluded in last weeks match report; "the measure of a truly champion side is not how they act when the going is smooth but how they react when they start to encounter a few bumps." This reaction was both positive and encouraging in despite missing two key performers in the pack and having to change personnel within the first five minutes of the match they managed to win with something to spare against a good team who lie in fifth place in a very competitive league.

Five matches to go and still thirteen points out in front with all the remaining games against sides in the lower half of the table.