Cleckheaton 0 - 15 Stockport

Much against the odds of the slowly retreating snow and ground frosts Cleckheaton, with the assistance of their valued volunteers and a couple of tons of sand, were able to get the Moorend pitch playable – just.

Cleck started strongly with their forwards driving forward in short bursts and camping in the Stockport half. The Sticky conditions made threequarter play difficult but the debutant half backs, Ollie Depledge and Dave Evans settled in well, benefiting from the forward’s control. Unfortunately whilst regularly establishing several good field positions metres from the Stockport line Cleck kept giving away needless penalties every five minutes or so, this allowed Stockport to relieve the pressure which had been built only for the process to start all over again.

For the first twenty minutes the play was all one way with the exception of Stockport’s relieving kicks but eventually Stockport’s rangy full – back broke out making ground on the stand side into the Cleck twenty two, fortunately his inside pass was well read by Craig Blackburn and the immediate danger cleared. The visitors then in turn pressurised the Cleck line for ten minute spell but the Cleck defence was up to it, weathered the storm and forced their way back into their opponents half.

With half time fast approaching Cleck mounted a multi-phase attack down the left hand touchline and it looked as though skipper Craig Rika, having his best game of the season, was clear for the line only for the referee to call for a dubious forward pass in the immediate build up.

For the Cleck supporters it must have seemed that more of the same sort of close quarter rugby in the second half would eventually lead to home side scores but this was not to be so.

Straight from the re-start Stockport kicked deep into the Cleck twenty two, full back Ross Hayden tried to run the ball out of defence rather than clear for touch, got caught in possession and from the resulting maul Stockport peeled off down the blind side for a try.

For some inexplicable reason Cleck then resorted to a kick /chase game instead of the driving game which they had used to good effect in the first half. In the cloying mud the kicks stopped dead and the Stockport full back used his good boot to return the ball with interest.

Halfyway through the half another bomb was aimed at Hayden who, so far, had dealt with the high ball well. Unfortunately this time he was taken out, the official declined to award a penalty, and the resulting loose ball was hacked over for another Stockport score.

Some strong runs from Ryan Duckett and Rika down the right hand touch took Cleck deep into the visitor’s twenty two, they built pressure with pick and drives but just could not force their way over. With ten minutes to go they tried the crossfield kick to the wing, a player from each side went for it but the Cleck player got a yellow card for his troubles. Down to fourteen men the steam went out of the home side, Stockport lifted the siege and eventually scored a third try in the seventy ninth minute.

Certainly a game Cleck could have won had they played through out as they did in the first half but the second half kicking game was the wrong tactics in the glutinous conditions