A 6 try trouncing of Sheffield Tigers earned Cleckheaton a place in the quarter final of the Yorkshire Cup. The team backed up an excellent display against Morpeth last Saturday with a similarly impressive performance against the National 2 side.

A mid-week fixture, in which 7 subs are allowed for each team, gave coach Dave Harrison the opportunity to have a look at a number of players, including Tom Crewe, Robin Bennett, Ben Thrower, Gareth Lamb and Jarrad Toulson, who have played most of their games in the Kestrels this season.

Cleckheaton opened their account with a penalty from Iain Gordon after 10 mins and had the opportunity to extend the lead further following another infringement by Tigers but the shot at goal drifted wide. The visitors never really cleared their lines and from the ensuing possession Gordon was successful with a drop goal to give Cleckheaton a 6-0 advantage.

Cleck got the first of their 6 tries from the back of scrum 30m out. Ollie Depledge found Ross Hayden who drifted wide before turning James Wilson back inside. The winger stood up the fullback and glided in for a try. Gordon added the extras to move the score on to 13-0.

5 minutes later a kick through from Gordon was collected by Martin Woodhead who took the play to within 5m of the whitewash, close to the left touch line. Tigers' defence was sucked into the ruck and Iain Gordon and Matt Piper combined to send the ball fully 50m across field to put James Wilson in space with no defenders in front of him, to go in for his second try. Gordon converted.

Cleck's next try came when the backs combined again and Hayden fed Wilson who was held up over the line. From the 5m scrum Ryan Piercy, playing at No. 8, picked and went blind and Richard Piper collected the recycled ball and crashed over. The try was not converted but the score, which remained unchanged at half-time, had advanced to 25-0.

Cleckheaton started the 2nd half equally brightly, making the home crowd forget just how cold the nights are now becoming, when Gordon kicked through and sent James Wilson chasing after his hat-trick. The Tigers' fullback dived on the ball first but carried it over the line giving Cleck a 5m scrum and from this, Ryan Piercy barged over for a try.

Cleck went further ahead when Gareth Lamb, Martin Woodhead and Matt Piper collectively carried the ball 50m upfield and Richard Piper looked likely to throw the try scoring pass but Tigers' 9 knocked the ball down. Whilst the crowd wondered if a penalty would follow, Ross Hayden gathered the ball and went in at the corner.

Craig Blackburn was introduced for the last quarter of the game and with one of his first touches he ran onto a great pass from Jarrad Toulson and had the strength and pace to get through much of the visitors' defence before feeding James Wilson who was able to claim his third try of the night. With Gordon off the field, the last three tries remained unconverted but with the scoreboard now reading 40-0, this was of little concern.

A great performance from Cleckheaton who are showing signs of building some real momentum, which they will look to take into Saturday's game against Newcastle side, Northern. The most pleasing aspect of the evening was the fact that the visitors remained scoreless meaning the Tigers were well and truly slain!