Cleckheaton Kestrels 10 - 10 York

The Kestrels battled back from 10 – 0 down to earn a draw against a very solid York XV and in the end, were unfortunate not to come away with a win.

The Kestrels have got into a bad habit of starting slowly and whilst they did press York’s line in the first 10 minutes, they didn’t really look like breaking through the solid defence displayed by the visitors. In return, York ran hard and straight and made some easy yards, due to lack-lustre first-up tackles.

York had a good balance of players, with a beefy front 5, a tall and speedy threesome in the back row and belligerent scrum half, controlling his pack well. York also had a robust centre that broke through the Cleck defence, before off-loading for the first try of the afternoon. The conversion was added to give the visitors a 7 – 0 lead.

Cleck pressed York from the restart but to no avail and the men in green extended their advantage with a penalty 5 minutes later. At 10 – 0 down with 20 minutes gone, the Kestrels knew they would have to start working if they were to get anything out of the game. With renewed vigour, the Cleck pack took the game to York and earned good territory, camping in the visitors 22. The York defence was spirited however, and they repelled wave after wave of Kestrels’ attack. With all 8 forwards lending a hand to a rolling maul, Max Sowden eventually powered over for the touch down. The conversion was missed but the Kestrels were back in it at 10 - 5.

With only 5 minutes of the half left, it continued to be all Cleckheaton as York had to work hard to keep Cleck out. James Wilson was initially held up close to the line but with the help of a supporting maul of 3 or 4 fellow players, eventually made it over the whitewash. As the referee peeled away bodies from both sides, he adjudged that he wasn’t certain that the ball was grounded and so a try could not be given. To make matters worse, there wasn’t even time for the 5m scrum and the half ended there.

Cleck made a couple of changes at half time, bringing on Danny Ashton for Craig Blackburn, who had only got back from a business trip in the early hours of the morning and Ricky Motlib for Ben Thrower.

Both sides knew the game was there to be won and attacked and defended with equal passion. The Kestrels had to put up strong defence to keep York at bay, as they won several line-outs and a couple of penalties in the Cleck danger zone. Despite all their efforts York could not get through the home defence and eventually opted for a shot at goal, which was narrowly missed.

With the visitors tiring, the Kestrels had their best period of play in the last 15 minutes of the match. It started with a try as Ollie Depledge fielded a poor kick close to the touch line about 25 metres out. As the visitors ran in to tackle, Depledge chipped the ball over the defending line and despite being pushed into touch after kicking, ran back into the field of play and won the race to score in the corner. James Wilson narrowly missed the conversion and the game was poised at 10 – 10. The Kestrels piled on the pressure in the remainder of the game and had opportunities to make better use of the space they were now creating. In the end it was not to be and the ref blew up, pretty promptly, for full time.

The Kestrels continue to improve, which bodes well for the rest of the season. Next week they travel to Selby looking to overturn a sizeable defeat earlier in the year.