Cleckheaton 5 - 29 Old Brodlieans

The development ethic that permeates the 2nd XV this season is starting to bear fruit. Although the Kestrels did not manage to overcome local rivals Old Brodlieans, there were many pleasing aspects of play.

The forwards have been working hard in training on their ball retention at rucks and mauls. Improvements were seen at Ripon last week and this week the performance was even better. The Kestrels, though under pressure in the scrums, managed to keep the ball in the loose for long periods of time, stringing many phases together. However, despite having the ball and the territorial advantage, they were unable to penetrate the robust Brods defence. All the Moorenders had to show for their efforts was a shot at goal on the 15 minute mark. The kick from WIlson, 25 metres out, just drifted wide.

Brods had hardly been in Cleckheaton territory but from a scrum around 30 metres out the opposition scrum half popped a pass to hard running centre, Holbrough, who evaded Cleck's cover tackles and sprinted in for a score under the sticks. The extras were added to give Brods a 7-0 lead.

Cleck attacked Brods again and had some useful forays into the danger zone but were able to convert this into points. Brods scored a second try when fast hands put their winger in at the left corner and piled on the pain with a touchline conversion and then a penalty 5 minutes later. Brods also got a 3rd try soon after this following a scrum on the 20. Scrum half Cole picked up from the No 8's feet and sold a dummy to Cleck's defence before waltzing over in the corner. This time the conversion was missed but Brods had pulled into a 22-0 lead.

The Kestrels however kept their heads up and regathered the ball from the kick-off. Eventually this led to a 5 metre scrum from which Quinn was adjudged to be held up over the line, leaving the score unchanged at the whistle.

Cleckheaton were resolved to try and at least win the second half of the game, if not the whole match. However things did not start well as Brods pack gained a push over try following a scrum on Cleck's 5 metre line. The Kestrels could have let their heads drop at this point but decided instead to dig deep for the last 20 minutes of the game. The Kestrels forwards once more started to dominate in the loose and even started to pressurise Brods' scrum. Points had to come from this passage of play and indeed they did, when good driving work from the forwards created a gap for Wilson to dart through before feeding Clayton for a try.

Cleck could have scored more points in the closing 10 minutes but poor last passes let them down. This game was much closer than the 29-5 scoreline suggests but credit to Brods for taking all their opportunities. The Kestrels are developing as the year advances and some of the young men playing their first season of senior rugby are starting to make real progress. Jimmy 'The Force' Haigh was awarded Man of the Match for yet another hard working performance.