Cleckheaton 18 Ilkley 26

A BALMY autumn afternoon was certainly more agreeable than the horrible conditions the Dalesmen found at Moorend last winter when their winning streak was halted by a resurgent Cleckheaton side battling against relegation.

There were three new men to slot into the Dalesmen's team, with Kieran Dannatt returning from injury at lock, Ed Brown making his seasonal debut at stand off and Dion Hendricks filling the big hole vacated by JH Johnson's injury on the wing.

A cheeky breeze favoured Cleckheaton in the first half as they played down the slope and they swept into a 10-0 lead with tries from Tom Austin and James Wilson.

Cleckheaton threw the ball about with skill and pace and with skipper Richard Piper leading his sizeable pack from the front, it took all the Dalesmen's defensive abilities to prevent a wipeout after slack marking contributed to both tries.

Joe Rowntree had turned down a kick at goal to go for the line-out and drive which was unproductive, before opening his side's account with a more difficult penalty.

This was cancelled out by Ronan Evans who slotted his first successful kick of the match to make it, 13-3.

It was full back Ben Magee who sparked Ilkley into life and concerted pressure saw Ilkley gain a penalty which Rowntree converted, while Cleckheaton flanker Jack Seddon received a yellow card.

It was Magee who was to spark Ilkley second half revival. He set off on a mazy run from his own half which saw him round six players before scoring under the posts. Rowntree's conversion levelled the scores.

Cleck's confidence levels dropped but their efforts and endeavour still posed threats which were largely thwarted by dropped passes and that legendary Ilkley defence.

Just as Cleck were building a head of steam they knocked on in the Dalesmen's 22. The scrum,was won and Magee received a lovely pass to burst past the Cleck back line.

He made fully 50 metres before looking outside to find young Hendricks flying up on his right. A lovely ball put the winger in for a try on debut. Rowntree added the extras.

Cleckheaton rather lost the plot with full back Wilson seeing yellow for a high tackle on the excellent Elliot Morgan which gave Rowntree the chance to add three more points.

Shortly after, prop Paul Turner suffered the same fate for tackling the industrious Pat Power in the air.

With numerical advantage the Dalesmen should have put the game to bed but Cleck don't lie down.

Sometimes playing against 13 men can prove harder than 15. This was a prime example of that .

Rowntree put three more points on the board before, with the last play, Cleck finally got over the line as wing Mikey Hayward scrambled over wide out. A conversion would have given them a bonus point, but it sailed wide.

The Ilkley scrum and lineout created a great platform for this hard won victory. Ollie Holtam, Dan Lawrence and the perennial Jon Hutchinson were rock solid in tight and loose play. Dannatt, Nathan Smith, Nick Carolan and Will Davies have sorted Ilkley's line-out difficulties of last season. What a difference a close season makes.

Make no mistake, this wasn't pocket picking. It was a thoroughly deserved victory - a rare thing at Cleckheaton.

Ilkley move up to fifth place and now look forward to the visit of Firwood Waterloo this weekend.