Yarnbury 6 - 10 Cleckheaton Kestrels

The Kestrels got their first merit league points of 2009/10 with a narrow victory over Yarnbury. The score line could have, and perhaps should have, shown a wider divide but basic skills let Cleck down on occasion. As well as conceding endless penalties, many for reasons unknown, the Kestrels were rightly pulled back for numerous forward passes. This lack of continuity ensured a low scoring game with just a single try in the whole match.

Yarnbury started with a lot of determination against a Cleck side equally resolved to overcome the slow starts that have characterised the last two weekends. The opening phases of the game took place in the middle third of the field with defence having the upper hand. Only the occasional kick to nothing temporarily placed the ball in either danger zone. As the first quarter wore on, the penalty count started to rack up and Yarnbury were able to launch numerous attacks at the Kestrel’s line. The visitor’s defence held firm and with the home side’s line-out being disrupted by Matt Beasty and the scrum under pressure from the Cleck front row, Yarnbury were restricted to having a shot at goal, giving the Horsforth side a 3 – 0 lead.

Cleck responded 10 minutes later when play broke down on the halfway line and James Wilson gathered the ball and attacked the defence with a mazy run. Wilson was eventually pulled down but threw a pass out of the tackle to Neil Gillan who galloped home from 30 metres, in front of an incredulous defence. Wilson added the conversion to give the Kestrels a 7 – 3 advantage. Cleck had a number of opportunities to get further tries, with Michael Piper going close and Ed Chappelow going even closer. Yarnbury also had a chance to put points on the board with a kickable penalty, but the ball sailed wide and the half ended without further score.

Cleck increased their tally 10 mins into the second half, courtesy of a Wilson penalty before Yarnbury returned the favour with a penalty of their own, to bring the scores to 10 – 6. No further points were added in the match despite Cleck having 3 further penalty attempts and a narrowly missed drop goal. The number of shots at the sticks in this game reflected the frequency at which the referee put the whistle to his mouth but also exposed the fact that neither back line were able to break the other’s defence.

There are many aspects of play to work on with this developing Kestrels side but with a win under the belt and good attendance at training, improvement is sure to continue.