Cleckheaton 27 - 13 Beverley

From an unpromising start Cleckheaton grew in confidence to run out deserved winners against a battling Beverley side.

The home side's troubles began as early as the third minute when a penalty award under the posts was taken quickly, a speculative pass was intercepted and Beverley reached the Cleck 22 where a dropped pass relieved matters. To add insult to injury Mike Kilgannon opened the scoring for Beverley with a penalty whilst a few minutes earlier home No 8 Edu Hanekom had been helped from the field with a hamstring injury.

Ross Hayden levelled the scores in the twelfth minute with a penalty and the half was brought to life with a Ryan Duckett try following a pin-point accurate cross kick by Hayden, who also converted.

Cleckheaton had been under pressure in the scrum in the first quarter which was not helped by the inexplicable yellow card given to John Dudley for preventing release of the ball. As Dudley returned, skipper and second row partner Craig Rika was similarly banished from the field of play, this time for indiscipline. As the half time break approached Beverley full back Freddie Oakley went over in the corner following a break through the midfield defence. The conversion was missed and Cleckheaton had a two point advantage. The half had been open and competitive but with both sides making mistakes it was difficult to assess who had the upper hand.

The first quarter of the second half settled any doubts. In the forty sixth minute Cleckheaton stole the ball from a ruck on half way, the ball was moved through several pairs of hands before Doug Trivella dived over in the corner for an excellent try. Five minutes later Zac Hill broke through just inside his own half. His initial pace took him away from a number of would-be defenders and his strength took him to the line for the try of the match and in fact of any match. Ross Hayden missed with the conversion attempt but Cleckheaton, with a full complement of players on the pitch, were in the ascendancy.

Beverley were still strong in the scrum but their young back line was starting to suffer under pressure. As Cleckheaton began to dominate territory the lead was extended when Ben Wade sold an outrageous dummy from a set scrum to score his second try of the season. Ross Hayden converted.

Beverley completed the scoring with a try from strong running prop Scott Cameron who dived over with two minutes remaining of normal time. The conversion was missed by Mike Kilgannon.

The half time pep talk must have contained some home truths because Cleck came out a more determined and resolute unit in the second half. Waisele Sovatobua was a constant threat on his home debut and John Dudley and Ryan Duckett worked tirelessly to gain the upper hand in broken play. Zac Hill also had his best game to date.

A much more confident performance from Cleckheaton and the best of the season so far. However,there is no time for complacency especially at set pieces where there is a need for more stability and concentration. The side is starting to gel together and it won't be long before the team will really break free against unsuspecting opponents.