Old Crossleyans 10- 22 Cleckheaton Kestrels

The Kestrels took a break from Merit League action and travelled to Broomfield Avenue to face Old Crossleyans 2nds in what is nowadays a rare double header, with the 1st XV also playing the Halifax men at Moorend. Cleckheaton went into this game against opposition from the league above with a 100% away record and emerged still unbeaten on the road this season.

The home side won the toss and played with a low-lying and very bright sun at their backs making it difficult for the Kestrels to see the ball, especially when kicked. Crossleyans used this advantage and the slope of their pitch to pin Cleck in the bottom corner of the field on several occasions during the first 40 minutes. Despite the elements, The Kestrels did have several forays into their opposition 22 and created two clear try scoring opportunities but were let down by stray last passes. The deadlock was finally broken on the half hour mark when a couple of good Forward drives from the back of a line-out committed defenders and created space along Cleck’s left flank. Fast hands from half-backs Fletcher and Lamb put Martin Woodhead through a gap for the opening try. With Jarrad Toulson unavailable this week, Daz Terry’s shot at goal from wide out narrowly missed.

The Kestrels’ defence, which has been excellent in recent weeks, took on an air of laziness during the last 10 minutes of the half. A series of high grabs and half tackles ultimately let Old Crossleyans in for a relatively soft try under the sticks following a tap penalty. Crocs added the conversion and Cleckheaton turned round at half time 7 - 5 down.

With the sun now in the faces of the opposition, Cleck were confident that they would be able to win the second half and ultimately the game. The Kestrels’ forwards started to dominate with Gillan, Motlib and Piper knocking their opponents off a couple of scrums and Matt Beasty and Nick Holland each stealing line-out. Back row trio of Bashforth, Graham and Clayton started offering options at the back of rucks and it wasn’t long before Crocs started giving away penalties for handling on the ground. From one such infringement Cleck opted to kick into the bottom corner and following an excellent catch and drive at the lineout, Neil Gillan noticed that the defence had abandoned the blind side and dived over for a try. The conversion hit the crossbar but Cleck had regained the lead.

The Kestrel’s continued to apply pressure and with a strengthened defensive effort, it wasn’t long before they went further ahead. The score came when Mark Fletcher stole a ball from one of the homeside’s forwards on Crocs’ 22. He fed the ball to Matt Beasty who had Lamb in support but opted to back himself and just managed to get the ball down over the line. Woodhead added the extras and the score moved on to 17-7.

Crossleyans had not given up the fight and hit back with a successful penalty goal from under the sticks and Cleck’s lead was cut to 7 points. Youngster Sam Sessions was introduced for the last quarter of the match and enjoyed a solid debut performance and it was during this time that the Kestrels closed out the game. Scrum half Fletcher had been sent to the sin-bin, much to the bemusement of both sides, for what was a text-book leg lift tackle and Gareth Lamb had switched to scrum half. From the back of a ruck, Lamb dummied a pass and went through the gap that duly opened up, before out-pacing the covering tackles for the final try of the game. The conversion was missed and the scoreboard moved on to the match result of 22-10.

Chris Piper won the Purple Patch Moment of the Match award for forgetting his shirt and tie. Next week the Kestrels face another stern test as they play Selby 2nds at Moorend. Selby currently play 2 divisions higher than the Kestrels and the Cleckheaton men will have to be on their mettle if they want to secure another victory.