Cleckheaton 21 Driffield 15

Cleckheaton welcomed 2nd place Driffield to Moorend on Saturday for a mouthwatering clash with the hosts looking to avenge a crushing defeat at Kelleythorpe in October where Driffield served up a 61-34 hiding.
In team news, Ollie Depledge returned after illness, Mike Hayward returned on the left wing after limping off at Moortown, but long term casulties, James Wilson, Andy Piper , Jack Seddon and Niall Jackson were all missing.
Nia Parsonage had the whistle and Cleckheaton kicked off into the wind and rain and Driffield set about the hosts with a ferocious pick and go game in the pack but , such is the improvement made by the Cleckheaton defence there was no way through, Driffield conceded the first 3 penalties when Cleckheaton got over the ball each time and the visitors were forced to hold on.
The first time Cleckheaton ventured into the Driffield 22 , Tom Hainsworth ran onto a short pass when Richard Piper picked up at the scrum base and he burst through to score the opening try,his 8th of the season,Dale Breakwell added the goal 7-0 after 7 minutes.
The next 20 minutes or so saw Driffield monopolise possession, the defensive efforts kept the visitors at bay , there were 2 or 3 huge tackles by Ben Thrower that stood out , Brad Marsden secured the line out ball in difficult conditions and the scrum was solid all afternoon. On 20 minutes , Cleckheaton conceded a penalty in a kickable position but the attempt was well short. Driffield now set up camp inside the Cleckheaton 22 and after multiple phases, captain Rob Newburn forced his way over the line, Watts missed the conversion 7-5 after 26 minutes.
From the restart , Driffield went back on the attack and were having the better of the game, there was an occasional breakout by Hainsworth and Dom Flanagan, but Ben Blacker at full back was up to the task and Driffield piled on the pressure. On 34 minutes , the visitors took the lead with second row Alex Cullen escaping a couple of tackles and crossing for a try which Watts converted 7-12.
Into the second half and Cleckheaton had the elements in their favour, Breakwell put in some low kicks along the touchline which caused Driffield to come up with a couple of handling errors which gave Cleckheaton chance to launch their own attack . Joe Flanagan drove the ball in and when it was recycled, there was some superb interplay in the backs and Dom Brambani jinked his way over the line for his 4th try of the season , Breakwell again added the goal and it was 14-12 after 55 minutes. The momentum had shifted towards Cleckheaton even though the visitors had had the majority of possession . On 65 minutes the lead had gone out to 21-12 when Dom Flanagan powered his way towards the try line on an angled run near the corner flag , Breakwell adding a huge conversion from the touchline.
Driffield kept pounding away but once again the strength of the defence was good. On 75 minutes , the Referee, who had a solid game throughout awarded a penalty which Watts managed to stroke over the bar to set up a crucial final 5 minutes 21-15 .Cleckheaton had a scrum some 30 metres from their own line and there was a mix up at the base of the scrum and another penalty was awarded with time running out, Driffield needing a converted try to win the game , took the tap penalty and advanced into the home 22, however on the 4th or 5th phase the ball was knocked on and the game was brought to its conclusion with joyous celebrations from the players and the Cleckheaton followers.
Driffield would have set off back home wondering how they had so much possession and field position and just got a losing bonus point from the game.
Cleckheaton have made it 7 wins out of 8 and it was only a tough loss against Ilkley that blemished that run.
Next week, another tough encounter with top dogs Heath in prospect away at North Dean kick off still at 2:15, please come and give your support.