It was no less than we deserved for a gutsy display, not without mistakes but not lacking in effort or commitment. Closing out a narrow win after so many defeats is never easy and will do our confidence good for games to come.
Gavin Painter contributed 12 points to the cause and it was his boot that got things underway with a penalty after just 2 minutes following a high tackle. We went on to dominate the early stages territorially but failed to create any clear cut scoring chances.
Painter and Cleckheaton fly-half Mike Swetmen exchanged missed penalty attempts before the visitors got the first try of the afternoon just before the half hour mark. Pressure came from a dominant maul and powerful ball carrying from Cleckheaton’s big forward pack. With space now generated out wide the ball was moved along the backline and last defender Joe Willis committed to an interception attempt , only to see the ball sail over his head and leave Pat Foulstone with the simplest of run-ins. Swetman’s conversion missed but he would extend the lead before half-time with another penalty after we killed the ball on the line when a try looked inevitable. Ryan Painter received a yellow card for the offence and we were probably relieved to only concede the three points.
Gavin Painter aimed a long but straight shot at the posts on the stroke of half time but it sailed wide to leave the half-time score 3-8. His boot was in action again early in the second half but another kick slid wide and as the misses added up it began to look as though we could be left wondering what might have been. However, skipper Carl Miller, on as a half-time replacement, added some ballast in the ball carrying department and it was his break and offload that set up a great position deep in the 22. As the ball came out to Painter he darted for the line to touch down despite a high tackle almost stopping him short. With advantage played and the try awarded, Painter dusted himself off to add the conversion for a 10-8 lead.
Another penalty attempt drifted wide as we tried to add some breathing space to the scoreline and we had to wait until 9 minutes from time when a rare stolen lineout led to a try for Scott Butcher.
The visiting lineout had been working well throughout most of the game but a clean steal at the front gave us good attacking ball and Butcher took the ball at pace to burst through a gap and run round under the posts for a simple conversion.
The try gave us the cushion of a two score lead but Cleckheaton weren’t about to give up and worked their way back into the 22 with some of the best ball retention seen from either side in the game. They settled for a simple penalty from Swetman to close the gap to single score with anxious looks around the ground as to how long was left on the referee’s watch. The last few minutes weren’t without scares but the defensive effort was terrific against a much bigger side and a turnover on half-way brought the end of the game.
Despite a welcome four points the league table looks much the same with all the teams around also recording victories but with three out of five games before Christmas at home more of the same effort seen today should bring more of the results.
West: Hilditch, Beales, Youll, G Painter, Willis, Southern, R Painter, Key, Rollins, Coates, Linighan, Rafferty, Baggs, Butcher, Turner.
Reps: Miller, Foulds, Peacock
Tries: G Painter, Butcher
Cons: G Painter 2
Pen: G Painter
YC: R Painter, Baggs
Cleckheaton: Wilson, Marsden, Hayward, M Piper, Foulstone, Swetmen, Bickerdike, Turner, Thrower, Jackson, Piercy, Pearson, Cherryholme, Plunkett-White, Seddon.
Reps: Crowther, Barnard, A Piper
Try: Foulstone
Pens: Swetman 2
YC: Cherryholme
Referee: Adam Robson [Yorkshire Society]