Cleckheaton 24 – 25 Old Brodlieans

Cleckheaton fielded a fairly strong side for this traditional Boxing Day fixture against Old Brodlieans, with the Freddie Scott Trophy the last present remaining to be opened for one of the two teams. On paper most would have thought the result would only go one way, the way it had gone for these last five Christmases past, the only issue was by how many. Even with a belly full of turkey, mince pies, brandy and eggnog, Old Brodlieans would be up against it, wouldn’t they?

The pitch at Moorend was looking relatively firm and festively green, Jack Frost had been predicted to call over night but hadn’t bothered in the end and a healthy crowd gathered to watch the Yuletide offering. Cleckheaton took to the field with victory in mind, Old Brodlieans, as it turned out, had other ideas.

From the outset it was clear that Brods were not simply going to crumble in defence like a tray of gingerbread men, as Cleckheaton crashed into them time and time again but could not get through. Nevertheless the Moorenders continued this approach for much of the first half, sometimes in ones and twos and on numerous occasions Old Brods plucked the ball away from the Cleckheaton runner. From one such turn-over the visitors broke from the half way line, and despite a valiant chase from Lee Queeley, just got the ball down in the corner. The conversion was missed but Brods extended their lead with a penalty goal a few minutes later. Cleckheaton did have some merry moments in the first period with Jack Seddon, Josh White, James Wilson and Danny Vento all going close but overall the performance was in the spirit of the January sales - lots given away for very little.

Cleckheaton started the second half trailing 8-0 but with fresh determination to get back in the game. A good catch and set seemed to get things off to a solid start but seconds later a no-look, inside pass was gift wrapped, labelled and popped into the air for a Brods defender to intercept and promptly deliver under Cleckheaton’s sticks. As with the first try, the second was followed by a penalty shortly afterwards and the visitors had gone into an 18-0 lead. With half an hour left on the clock the home side now had a mammoth task in front of them. Cleckheaton’s man of the match Lee Queeley gave some Christmas cheer with a try in the right hand corner and then some real hope, with another in a similar position, after Jack Bickerdike took a quick penalty and Mike Piper slotted a cross-field kick into the in-goal area. Mike Piper converted one of the tries and Cleckheaton trailed by six.

Just when it looked like the visitors had had their fun but would eventually go home empty handed, a fantastic run from the Brods hooker, resembling Rudolph in the rutting season, bouncing tacklers off in every direction and refusing to be tamed, got the Visitors’ best try of the day to re-establish a 13 point advantage. Cammy Burnhill was introduced for Cleckheaton and made an immediate impact with dancing feet even Craig Revel-Horwood would have given a 10 to, as he evaded the defence and skipped under the sticks for a converted try. It was all Cleckheaton in the last 5 minutes and another cross-field kick from Mike Piper was plucked out of the air by Ross Hayden for Cleck's fourth try. This brought the scores to 25-24 with the kick to come. The Brods crowd were feeling sick, the Cleck crowd were now looking forward to tasting that beer … but unfortunately the kick was missed! There was only a minute remaining when Brods re-started but a barnstorming, 30m run from Matt Piper looked to give Cleckheaton the break they needed. An infringement by Brods 40m out gave Cleckheaton a penalty, but the bad news was that this would be the last play. Cleckheaton opted for goal but the kick fell short and the Freddie Scott Trophy was lost to Woodhead for the next 12 months.

Cleckheaton return to National 3 action next weekend with the visit of high-flying Sale. A performance similar to Boxing Day’s is likely to lead to a heavy loss but with minds back on proper business and the Christmas pud long since digested, Cleckheaton will be up for defending their fantastic home record.