Despite a howling gale and determined opponents, Cleckheaton gained a much deserved bonus point win; a result which pushed them two places up the league and a confidence boost for their clash with leaders Billingham next Saturday.

The strength of the wind meant that any thoughts of an expansive game had to be shelved and in its place a pragmatic approach was required with the side who could get the upper hand at the set piece and retain possession the longest, would certainly be the victors, and so it turned out.

Cleckheaton having lost the toss played with the 'hurricane' at their backs in the first half with the vast majority of both possession and territory favouring the home side. Several attempts to execute following neat build up play went begging due not only to the weather but also to some credible defence by the visitors from the North East. Eventually the pressure proved too much and tries from Ross Hayden and two from Richard Piper opened up a decisive lead, with kicks at goal a complete lottery in the conditions, Iain Gordon's valiant attempts at conversions were blown off course giving a score line of 15-0 at the break.

The second half saw Cleckheaton, in continuing adverse conditions, play some entertaining rugby. With the wind now blowing into their faces, kicking options were limited and only hard work with ball in hand, would advance the team into the opposition’s danger zone. The Cleckheaton pack rose to the challenge and played very competent spells of 9 man rugby. This was supported by excellent use of the short side by Matty Piper, Ross Hayden and James Wilson in particular, which constantly had the visiting side in all sorts of trouble. Despite having the advantage of the elements the visitors rarely ventured into Cleckheaton territory, with Johnno Marshall reading several Gateshead kicks and returning the ball with interest.

Mid way through the 2nd half, a neat grubber kick from Matty Piper found touch and gave Gateshead a line-out 15m from their line. An excellent jump from Ryan Piercy, thrust into the air by Grant Turton and Paul Turner, saw the ball snatched from the hands of the Gateshead Lock and from the resulting drive, replacement back rower Ed Chapelow wriggled over for a try. The shot at goal was nicely struck and perfectly on target but as the ball got within 10 m of the posts, it was lifted by the wind and blown back towards the kicker, eventually coming to rest more or less where the kick was taken from.

Cleckheaton continued to pressurise Gateshead from the re-start and denied them all but one chance to get on the score board. The visitors were awarded a penalty in front of goal but shunned the consolation of 3 points, instead opting to run the ball at Cleckheaton’s defence. Despite all the hard work at the other end of the field, the home side’s defence held firm and when Gateshead dropped the ball, their opportunity to avoid a defeat to nil had passed. The game was sealed with impressive vice captain Richard Piper, scoring the final try and registering another hat-trick in this season’s campaign, making it 15 tries so far this year (see stats). The conversion attempt again fell victim to the wind but the final score of 25 – 0 was a true reflection of the home side's superiority. The cold and windswept crowd had been rewarded with an excellent performance, especially from the forwards where young second row Matt Beasty and veteran Steve Worsley were outstanding.