On a beautiful Wirral afternoon,Cleckheaton can count themselves unlucky to come away with nothing after a much improved performance. Cleck started slowly and the first quarter was dominated by Park moving the ball at every opportunity.The visitors defence was severely tested and after 5 minutes Park had their first chance of opening their account. Winger Andy Trotter missed the relatively easy penalty. However,the home side were looking strong and a try by Dave Hall and a conversion by Andy Trotter opened up a 13 point lead.

From the 20th minute onwards Cleck suddenly appeared to find a willingness to compete, taking the game to the opposition, the back row of Hamilton,Wade and Hanekom prominent. Ross Hayden opened Cleck's account with a penalty and on 25 minutes Lance Hamilton broke through the defence to score a good try which was converted by Hayden. Although Park had several chances to extend their lead,good defence kept them out and home kicker Andy Trotter missed with a penalty effort. A three point deficit at half time and Cleck appeared to be in the ascendancy.

The early minutes of the second half were littered with Cleck errors. Once more Park took the initiative and with two more tries, one an interception from 70 metres out and a penalty, built up an 18 point lead. Much to their credit Cleckheaton renewed their efforts and showed great spirit. Their enterprising play was justly rewarded with two excellent individual tries from Tom Lauriston and new stand off Zak Hill,both converted by Ross Hayden.

Park just about deserved their victory but Cleckheaton showed that they can be a force in this league. There were signs that with a full strength side this will be a team worth watching. Park are undefeated against good pre-season opposition as well as in the league. They are a good side, likely to be in the mix at the end of the season. Cleckheaton were not far off their equal. The mix of youngsters and experience is always going to be a positive for the future, and in Tom Denton, Andrew, Matthew and Richard Piper and Ross Hayden, Cleck have players with a willingness to learn and role models to learn from.