Indiscipline to blame for loss.

On a wet and windy afternoon Cleckheaton started well, but a loose pass let Boro move up field and from a 6th min penalty Steve Moore put them 3 pts up.

Cleckheaton continued to battle hard in midfield, but were unable to break the Boro defence until James Walker did in the 20th min, only for him to spill the ball.

Middlesbrough went further in front from a 26th min penalty from the halfway line by Moore. Cleckheaton hit back with a kick and chase form Joe South only for him to be bundled into touch after a 40 mt run. It was Boro again getting the scoreboard in the 38th min, after some valiant defending by Cleckheaton. A cross field move sent Mick Wright in for a try, Moore converted and he also had a penalty kick mins later from inside his own half which just fell short. At the interval Cleck trailed 13-0.

Cleckheaton started the 2nd half well and in the 48th min it looked like they were going to score after a strong run from Ross Hayden, but he was held up. With the Boro side playing the man in the middle better than Cleck it wasn’t long before the game started to boil and 1st man in the bin was Cleck replacement Carl Mason on 52 mins, only to be followed 3 mins later by Boro’s Bob Horton. The next period of play gave Cleck the best chances of scoring, but they were unable to finish them off and again discipline let Boro back into the game and for the 1st time this half in the 70th min they got into the 22, only to loose the ball.

With the game moving into the final mins Cleckheaton had their opponents once again on the back foot when it boiled over and the Ref sent Cleck's Richard Piper and Boro's Mark Howe to the bin. With the game moving into injury time Hayden dived in for a consolation try, which he also converted.