Hard fought battle ends in a draw

On the surface, such enterprise is great for spectators, in reality, a nightmare for coaches as excellence in attack is often matched by frailties in defence.

Cleckheaton were up against it for the first 20 minutes as the Westoe pack dominated proceedings. Firstly, Westoe fly half Macfarlane kicked a penalty closely followed by a similar effort by Cleck No 10 Jonny West. The Westoe dominance, especially in the set scrums was rewarded by a further Macfarlane penalty and a try from mobile hooker Douglass. The conversion attempt was missed.

Though they had little possession to work with the Cleckheaton back line looked dangerous; Ryan Duckett once more proving to be an elusive attacking weapon from deep. Jonny West reduced the arrears with another penalty before a piece of brilliance from the excellent Ryan Burrows put the home side in the lead for the first time. From a retreating scrum, Burrows picked up, angled his run round the covering defence and romped over under the posts. Jonny West converted.

West kicked another penalty on thirty three minutes to stretch the Cleck lead to five points before a lapse of concentration allowed Westoe's powerful centre Fitzpatrick to level the scores as the half time break approached.

Soon after the resumption Westoe regained the lead with two Macfarlane penalties; a result of the continuing forward pressure. Lee Brown was yellow carded for deliberately slowing down possession and this added further pressure on an already struggling pack. West landed his fourth penalty of the afternoon but from the resulting restart the Westoe pack spoiled Cleck's possession, possibly illegally, and hooker Douglass was given a free run to the line for his second try of the afternoon. The try was converted and Cleck were 10 points behind.

Jonny West kept up his hundred percent penalty record with his fifth successful effort on the hour mark, and Cleck were given further hope when influential back row Pearson was given 10 minutes rest for another technical offence.

Cleckheaton kept in the game and began to win more possession. Eventually and with time running out they spurned another penalty chance and backed themselves for a catch and drive in the corner. The one source of possession which had improved as the game had progressed, provided the ball, which was driven to the line, Jim Lamptey being awarded the try. The reliable West obliged with the conversion from the touchline. Scores level and 5 mins to play.

Westoe pounded the Cleckheaton line but the home defence was sound. One point each from an exciting game and a fair result.

There are still obvious areas for improvement for this developing team, but one big step forward from last season is the ability to create scoring opportunities from broken play. The intention is clear and the spirit is good.