Cleckheaton 30 – 23 Malton & Norton

Cleckheaton claimed a second consecutive home bonus point win and moved into 6th place in North One East after coming through a close game against Malton & Norton. Cleckheaton seemed to have the match in the bag but then suddenly found themselves losing, before putting in a late rally to clinch a deserved victory.

Honours were even in the opening exchanges with Malton’s strong running centres and flying wings causing concern for the home defence but Cleck scrambled well to keep the North Yorkshiremen at bay. Cleck’s forwards, with the ever dependable Richard Piper, Ryan Piercy and Paul Turner leading the retaliatory charge, helped the home side make good progress in the loose. Cleckheaton worked to pressurise their visitors' 22 following a break from Ollie Akroyd, which released Matthew Piper. However the last pass evaded supporting runners and went straight into touch. An easy clearance kick from the line-out was rejected by Malton & Norton and instead the visitors tried to run the ball out of their territory. An ambitious pass was read by Martin Woodhead and the winger intercepted and ran in 25m for Cleckheaton’s first try. Iain Gordon added the extras.

Malton pressed Cleckheaton from the re-start and were awarded a penalty some 30 metres out which Ramsay converted. From Cleckheaton’s kick off, Malton’s strong running back line cut through Cleck's defence and a 50m break was improved a few seconds later when winger, Newitt, went in under the sticks for his first try of the day.

Malton’s advantage did not last too long though as Cleck’s forwards again pressed the opposition’s defensive line down the stand side of the pitch. A 25m pass from Gordon and a similar effort from Matt Piper moved the ball swiftly from one side of the field to the other and Woodhead and Hayden combined to give James Wilson the space to tiptoe down the touch line before stepping back inside the cover defence for Cleck’s second try. A fine kick from Gordon out wide, gave Cleck a 14-10 lead. The advantage seemed to have been improved when Martin Woodhead chipped ahead and looked to go in at the corner, however the referee was unsighted and after consulting the opposition linesman, awarded a 22 drop out. Malton did not really clear their lines and Piercy returned the ball with interest leading to an infringement and a successful penalty goal by Gordon. With the half time whistle approaching, Malton once again tried running the ball from their own 22 and a loose pass was seized on by Jonathon Marshall, who raced in for an unconverted try. As the whistle blew to end the first 40, Cleck were seemingly in control 22-10 in front.

Cleckheaton started the 2nd half strongly and camped on Malton’s line but a fracas saw Richard Piper sin binned and the visitors able to kick their way down field. The North Yorkshire men soon took advantage of their superior numbers and won a converted penalty before Newitt went in for his second try of the afternoon. Cleck were restored to full compliment but conceded another try, when Newitt chipped through and won the foot race for his hat-trick. The conversion was narrowly missed but Cleck’s half time lead had suddenly turned into a 23-22 deficit, with 15 mins to go. At one time this turn round in fortunes may have seen Cleckheaton go on to lose the match but they kept their composure and made a determined effort to work their way back up field. Their cause was helped when it was Malton’s turn for a back rower to be yellow carded and from the ensuing penalty, the ball was kicked to within 10m of Malton’s line. A good lineout drill set up the catch and drive and Richard Piper claimed the try. The conversion attempt drifted narrowly wide.

The remaining 10 mins were a tense affair, with a narrow loss in similar circumstances the week before, still fresh in the minds of the Cleck faithful. However Iain Gordon soothed the nerves with a sublime drop goal from 30m out to give Cleck a 7 point cushion, which remained undented when the referee called time. Next weekend the team travel to Beverley and will be helped by the confidence that comes from this bonus point win.