National League Three North: Hull 42 Cleckheaton 22

CLECKHEATON'S pack put in a very determined performance at the Ferrens Ground and were rewarded when lock Ryan Piercy and hooker Mark Chivers went over for first-half tries.

The visitors' scores were punctuated by replies from Mike Jobling and Steve Hieheta, with Ronan Evans and Lee Birch converting one each for Cleckheaton and Hull respectively.

With 35 minutes played, the scores were deadlocked at 12-12, but just before the break, Cleckheaton's skipper Richard Piper went to the sin-bin, and Birch added another try for Hull.

He missed the conversion but was successful with a penalty goal on the half-time whistle to give Hull a 20-12 lead at the interval.

A break from Hull early in the second half and a penalty gave them a line-out close to Cleckheaton's whitewash.

A practised line-out drill, moving the ball back to the hooker in the five-metre channel, was well executed, and home captain Tom Rice dived over for an unconverted try.

Cleckheaton responded when Evans, Josh Hall and Neil Chivers combined to put the latter in at the corner.

The game was poised at 25-17 and Cleckheaton were attacking the Hull line when the home team turned over the ball and nearly went the length of the field.

The Hull attacker was bundled into touch five metres out but an unfortunate fumble in Cleckheaton's line-out gifted Hull’s Colin Quigley a simple try.

Harvey Harding went in for their sixth try to put the game beyond Cleckheaton's reach at 35-17 but the visitors kept working hard to get something out of the fixture.

And their efforts were rewarded when Richard Piper went in for Cleckheaton’s fourth and bonus-point try on 76 minutes.

With time all but up, Cleckheaton tapped a penalty just inside their own half with a view to keeping the ball alive and scoring a try in overtime, which if converted, would win a second bonus point.

It wasn't to be and Hull regained possession and gave the final score a more one-sided look, when Birch stepped his way over for his hat-trick try.