Cleckheaton, who are 14 points ahead in SSE North One East, are reaping the benefits of a settled squad.

Fixture secretary Alan Bentley said ahead of the home match against Sheffield on Saturday: “We have had very few injuries and have used only 20 players, which means that we can, for example, switch Alex Dawson and Grant Turton around in the second row, with one starting each week opposite Ryan Piercy and one being on the bench.

"The back row picks itself, and at the moment we are selecting our strongest side, with some young lads in the second team.

"But ideally we would like to give them some first-team games later in the season when there is less pressure.”

Nowhere in the Northern Division are results less predictable than in SSE Yorkshire Division Two.

Just ask Bradford Salem, who welcome back back-rower Kris Falwasser after a long battle against psoriasis for the home match against Leodiensian.

The equally influential Damien Pearson is only 50-50, however, after suffering neck and shoulder injuries following a car crash before Christmas.

Otherwise, Salem keep faith with the side that lost 29-14 at improving Knottingley.

Baildon, who are without Marcus Dracup this weekend, are rapidly reaching the point of no return at the bottom, and Saturday's home match against Old Rishworthians is therefore crucial, as is next weekend’s visit to Ripon.

Cleckheaton (home to Sheffield): R Hayden; M Woodhead, J Wilson, Matt Piper, James Marshall; Michael Piper, J Bickerdike; P Turner, B Thrower, C Piper, G Turton, R Piercy, R Afoa Peterson, R Piper, O Akroyd. Replacements: A Piper, C Blackburn, A Dawson.

Bradford Salem (home to Leodiensian) from: D Belcher; C Malarkey, A Sutcliffe, T Barnes, O Al-Rawi; A Robinson, J Mitchell; J Bradbury, A Veitch, D Luxton, J Cunliffe, S Leach, R Green, J Booth, J Fawcett, S Savage, D Hutton, J Ashworth, D Pearson, K Falwasser.