Cleckheaton Kestrels 54 - 18 Scunthorpe

The late withdrawal of Castleford 2nd's on Friday afternoon was swiftly rectified by fixture secretary Alan Bentley, when he gained agreement for Scunthorpe to send the 4th of their 6 regular sides over to Moorend.

Following a disappointing display by the Kestrels at Sheffield in their last game, coach Gordon Piper impressed on the players the need for a more committed performance this week and to a man they stepped up to the plate.

Cleck's first try came within the opening 5 minutes when excellent work from the backs put Tom Brook, returning from 6 months absence due to injury, in enough space to break through for a try. Robin Bennett added the conversion.

Cleckheaton suffered an immediate setback from the restart when utility player Patrick Horrigan had to leave the field with a torn hamstring. Lyndon Ashley came on in the 2nd row to replace him.

Following a narrowly missed penalty kick from Scunthorpe, Cleckheaton advanced into the visitors half and a jinking run from former Kettering player, Tom Crewe, was enough to wrong-foot the defence and allow the centre to glide in for a try under the sticks. Bennett once again improved the score.

The forwards continued to play a dynamic game with Bennett, Nathan Clayton and Bob Depledge hitting some good lines and the speed of play caught Scunthorpe offside. A kick for the corner followed and Matt Wood and Ricky Motlib combined to secure clean ball from the line-out. Excellent distribution by Mark Fletcher, Gareth Lamb and Aidan Bullen released Lewis Beasty to score his first try in open age rugby. Bennett narrowly missed the conversion and the score had moved on to a commanding 19-0.

Cleckheaton advanced the score even further when Ben Thrower collected from the back of the ruck and barged over in front of the sticks after good work from the pack. The backs then took the opportunity to shine, with Bullen and Brook combining to put Lamb in space and the stand-off exchanged passes with Bennett before sprinting 25 metres to the sticks. Bennett converted both tries to put Cleck 33-0 ahead.

A successful penalty goal from Scunthorpe eventually put the visitors on the score sheet before the referee blew for half time and visitors improved their account minutes into the 2nd half when a line-out, close to the Cleck line, was caught and driven over.

The Kestrels had introduced Will Denham at the break and the Colts’ back row nearly scored on debut but was tackled 2 metres short. The Cleck pack recycled the ball quickly and prop Liam Goldthorpe, called up on Saturday morning, rounded off a fine game with a try converted by Lamb.

Scunthorpe brought the score to 40-13 with a try that mirrored their first one before Cleckheaton scored the best try of the afternoon. Excellent interpassing from Bullen, Brook and Beasty from within Cleckheaton’s 22, advanced the ball 60 metres before Tom Crewe got his 2nd try of the afternoon, dancing his way through Scunthorpe’s last line of defence.

Nathan Clayton took Cleck’s score over 50 points, after good wing play from Matt Holdsworth allowed the No. 8 to step left and then right for a score near the sticks. Bennett converted again to bring the score to 54-13.

Scunthorpe had the last word when an opportunist tap penalty from the visitors’ tight head prop saw the big man sprint 30 metres before being halted by Brook but support was hand, leading to a try out wide and a final score of 54-18.

This was a solid performance from the Kestrels and one they can proudly take into next week’s game away at Pontefract.