Tightly Fought Contest

Cleckheaton U10’s hosted Aireborough RUFC and came up against a very well drilled side who were both strong in attack and defence.
In the first match, Cleckheaton were slow out of the blocks and some unusual missed tackles left them 2 tries down despite some powerful running from debutants Oliver Gaul and Alfie Davidson. Cleckheaton did fight back in the second half but were slow to the break downs meaning that Aireborough turned the ball over several times. Strong tackling by Thomas King and Declan Wilson provided the platform for Cleckheaton to claw their way back into the game with a notable try from William Wilkinson after bursting through several players.
Crucially it was the basics, which Cleckheaton are normally very good at, which let them down with Aireborough coming out the eventual winners by a single try difference.
In the second match, Cleckheaton were more focused although their speed to the breakdown was still an issue. Conner Holden who was playing his very first game of rugby was awarded the 100% effort award didn’t shy away from the tackles. William Carden and Sam Booth found and created holes in the Aireborough defence with a fantastic team try scored by William Nicholson after several offloads. Aireborough were resolute and stayed in contention but Jayden Cuffe’s (player of the match) speed and ability to find a hole in Aireborough’s defence being the key difference with Cleckheaton revenging the first match defeat in once again a tightly fought contest.