Cleckheaton 10 - 0 Morley

They say that fortune favours the brave. On Saturday at a saturated Moorend the brave wore the colours of Cleckheaton. Not only did they play an effective if not attractive game plan, they also defended their line as if their lives depended on it. The frost of the previous week finally relented and an 8.30 inspection gave the game the go ahead, allowing the London Society referee to catch his early train and the Assessor from Carlisle to finally get out of bed. Constant rain throughout the morning made conditions testing but all parties agreed to play and in doing so provided a game for the strategist rather than the purist.

Cleckheaton's first challenge, the Morley pack apart, was to survive for ten minutes with fourteen men after Ben Wade was sin binned in the 14th minute for handling on the floor. The home side fought to keep their shape in defence and this was enhanced by the kicking excellence of Dominic Brambani, playing only his fifth ever game of rugby union. Time and again Brambani kicked both into space and with good distance, turning the Morley defence and then leading a determined chase to prevent the pacey Maroons crossing the advantage line. The whole team excelled in their objective and Wade returned with the score still at 0-0.

Morley strayed offside in the 35th minute and Cleck full back Ross Hayden put the first points on the board with a penalty from the ten metre line. Five minutes later a passage of play reflecting exceptional skill by Brambani and Hayden resulted in the latter collecting a diagonal grubber kick from the fly half and sliding over in the right hand corner. As if that was not enough of a bonus, Hayden then landed the conversion from the touchline to extend the Moorender's advantage to 10-0.

The sizeable crowd, given the conditions, were starting to believe that the inconsistent form of the season so far would be forgotten if the momentum continued in Cleck's favour. The ungracious members of the visitors supporters had different views and were critical of both Cleck's tactics and the performance of the man in the middle. The reality was that Morley, although winning the majority of line-out ball did not have a plan B. Their kicking game was not of the same quality as Cleckheaton's and they didn't have the players for the conditions. These were neither their conditions nor was it their day.

Brambani successfully took play into Morley territory with an accurate touchfinder and when he was high tackled three minutes later after cutting through at speed, Cleckheaton won another penalty. This time,Hayden's kick from just inside Morley's ten metre line, sliced wide of the near upright.

Morley's best chance of putting points on the board came in the 57th minute when the hard working and abrasive Lance Hamilton was penalised for offside but fly half Mark Chester pushed his effort wide.

The conditions continued to deteriorate and the referee requested a change of shirts for the home side as both teams had become indistinguishable from each other. Despite the furrowed brow of Cleck's Treasurer calculating the increased laundry bills, the team's resolve continued and further excellent defence, Tom Lauriston the stand out player, gained Cleckheaton easily their best and most satisfying victory of the last two seasons.

The whole team and support staff must take great credit for this hard earned victory against a confident Morley outfit who similarly deserve acknowledgment of their own performance in atrocious conditions. British rugby in December is not all about pace and precision. On days like these the side which shows character, sticks together and defends well, often wins the day. The back row of Wade, Hamilton and Hanekom were outstanding, Craig Rika battled hard all game against his former team mates and Lauriston, Hayden and Brambani provided inspirational cameos to rise above the general level of performance.

The half way stage of the season has been reached with Cleck starting to show glimpses of their potential. Birkenhead Park on Saturday at Moorend 3pm will be another big test but one which could provide further evidence of this team's progress.