Bradford & Bingley 12 Cleckheaton 18

Cleckheaton made the short trip to neighbours and old rivals Bradford & Bingley and came away with victory in a hard fought encounter.
Bradley Marsden returned in the 2nd row partnered by Josh Plunkett, whilst Joey Carley who was named in the starting XV had a slight niggle and dropped to the bench and was replaced by Gus Milborne.
Bees kicked off with the wind at their backs and quickly got on the attack resolute defence kept the hosts at bay.
The first score came at the other end of the field, Cleckheaton winning turnover ball in midfield swept the ball to the right with Wilson and Marshall making ground Olly Depledge was on hand to touch down in the corner, Dale Breakwell couldn't add the extras but Cleckheaton led 0-5 after 6 minutes.
The game was end to end without troubling the scoreboard , both Breakwell and Taylor missing penalty kicks in this spell. There was a scuffle on the main stand side on 28 minutes , a penalty was awarded after the dust had settled and when Cleckheaton infringed again and another penalty went the Bees way, quick thinking saw Taylor throw a long pass to put Sutcliffe into space to score in the corner, Taylor added the goal from the touchline to give Bees a 7-5 lead.
As half time approached, both sides had chances to add to the score but it remained 7-5 at the break.
Early in the 2nd half , Cleckheaton worked the ball to the right, Marshall was on the end of a pinpoint kick from Breakwell and he blasted past the last line of defence to score a fine try in the corner, the conversion went wide but Cleckheaton had regained the lead at 7-10. Whilst the backs were getting over the whitewash, the Cleckheaton pack were dominant in both attack and defence, flankers Lillicrop and Milborne making the hard yards, while Piper , Jackson and Plunkett put in some thumping tackles to keep the Bees at bay. Bees didnt help their cause with several unforced handling errors and Cleckheaton capitalised with a 3rd try on 53 minutes. A booming kick out of defence wasn't dealt with by the Bees full back and from the resulting scrum , Seddon picked up at the base, feeding Tom Breakwell who linked with his half back partner. He gave a long pass to the wing where Hayward had plenty to do but he squeezed in near the corner flag for his 11th try of the season to take the score to 7-15 .
On 69 minutes , Dale Breakwell finally adjusted the radar and kicked his first goal of the game, a 35 metre effort that stretched the lead to 7-18.
Bees now had their best spell of the contest , retaining possession and driving forward only to be met by stout Cleckheaton defence.
On 78 minutes, Bees got across for their 2nd try after good work by the pack up the left hand side. The kick was missed but Bees were within striking distance. As time was running out , Bees made a final attack down the left wing but a crunching tackle by Depledge forced the ball carrier over the touchline and the referee brought an end to the game, final score Bees 12 Cleckheaton 18.
Cleckheaton worked hard in all phases and deserved the victory which after today's results puts Cleckheaton up to 5th in the league.
Next week, Kendal will visit Moorend, kick off has been put back to 3:00 due to a pre game Club Luncheon taking place.