Old Brodleians 10 Cleckheaton 16

Cleckheaton made the short journey to Woodhead to take on Old Brodleians who were sat in 2nd place at the start of the game. Cleckheaton welcomed back Dale Breakwell from his enforced break into his usual outside half berth with Dom Brambani moving to centre. Ben Thrower was at prop replacing Andy Piper after his injury last week, Thiu Barnard started in the second row with Brad Marsden on the flank and Jack Seddon on the bench.
Cleckheaton kicked off playing up the slope and with their first possession Hainsworth and Dom Flanagan made powerful runs which came to nothing and Brods cleared their lines. On 10 minutes the home team made a great move down the left but the final pass was deemed to be forward. On 14 minutes, Brodlieans had a penalty 35 metres out in front of the posts but Town pulled it wide.
Cleckheaton swept upfield showing great ball retention and Marshall and Hayward combined but a last ditch tackle prevented a try. However the Referee had been playing an advantage and Dale Breakwell slotted a 25 metre goal 0-3 after 18 minutes. Josh Plunkett left the field with a head wound and Seddon replaced him.
Brodlieans started to exert some pressure but the excellent Cleckheaton defence kept them at bay, most of their progress was lateral with very little movement across the gain line.
Plunkett returned to action after being patched up and Thiu Barnard left the field.
On 33 minutes, Brodlieans got over the line but were held up , then on 36 minutes Brodlieans got the breakthrough when Phil Town sliced through to score under the posts, he converted his try and Brodlieans had a 7-3 lead. On 38 minutes Dale Breakwell lined up a 40 metre penalty but it feel just short. The final action of the first half saw Cleckheaton move the ball right and Dale Breakwell struck a sweet drop goal from 30 metres 7-6 at half time.
Cleckheaton defence had been first class in the first period and they now had the advantage of the slope in the 2nd half.
On 45 minutes, ball was recycled on the right and into the hands of Dom Flanagan he was ankle tapped but Brambani was in support and he put the scoring pass out to Mike Hayward to cross for his 15th try of the season, conversion was wide but Cleckheaton had a lead at 7-11. In the next 10 minutes Cleckheaton were starved of possession as wave after wave of Brodlieans attacks came their way and were met by their outstanding defence. On 59 minutes , Brodlieans were penalised at the ruck in midfield, Dale Breakwell thumped the kick 50 metres downfield. With line out possession secured , the ball was swiftly moved across the field and a long pass found Mike Hayward in plenty of space to cross for his 2nd try, the conversion was wide again but Cleckheaton led 7-16.
Brodlieans now showed some urgency in their game but Cleckheaton matched the pace with solid defence and the ability to get over the ball at the breakdown was significant.
On 63 minutes , Brodlieans kicked a simple penalty to reduce the arrears to 10-16 but the attacks continued at the restart but they could not break the Cleckheaton cover or their determination. The final action of the game saw Cleckheaton with a scrum feed 30 metres out , but Depledge was caught in possession and Brodlieans had a chance to break away but they knocked on and the ball was booted off the field to give Cleckheaton an important victory and 4 league points.
Next week, Cleckheaton are on the road again to Moortown kick off at 2:15.