Judson in at double as Clayton scent promotion glory

2:34pm Sunday 10th April 2011

By Jack Strother

A brace of tries from lively hooker Lewis Judson kept Clayton on course for promotion to the Pennine League Premier Division after a one-sided Championship encounter at Lidget Green.

A disciplined Clayton made all the early running against an Ossett side that seemed intent on testing the referee’s patience with a barrage of head-high tackles.

It came as no surprise when Judson opened his side’s account with a clever pick-and-run from the ruck after narrowly missing out on two previous occasions.

The visitors settled down and started to play some telling rugby, with forwards Craig Simons and Mick Quinn to the fore. But they suffered a further setback when the Villagers introduced secret weapon Callum Dinsdale from the bench.

The former York prop is a class act, which he clearly demonstrated on his first touch by brushing aside three defenders on a powerful burst to the whitewash which left scrum half Dane Bairstow a simple conversion.

The hosts had to work hard to keep the Dewsbury outfit at bay, with full back Sam Goodchild making a succession of splendid takes from high bombs.

Their fortitude was rewarded when a smart offload from stand-off Jason Woolham landed in the eager arms of second-row forward Jonny Waddington, who sprinted unopposed to the chalk.

Ossett entered the restart full of confidence at just 14-0 down and with the slope in their favour. But the tactic of heads-down one-man drives was easily repelled by a well-drilled home defence.

Woolham spotted the chance to put over a towering drop goal, before a flurry of punches saw Clayton forward Eddie Harney and Trinity substitute Craig Wood marched to the sin-bin.

Ossett centre Gavin Westbury crossed out wide to reduce the deficit, before Villagers loose forward Simon Giles pounced on a loose ball to collect a gift.

Harney then returned to action to make amends for his previous indiscretion with a quick play-the-ball that allowed Judson to repeat his earlier effort.

Bairstow added the extras, followed by a penalty when Trinity made unwelcome comments to the official, leaving a 29-4 tally with ten minutes to go.

Master poacher Scott Pendlebury showed his guile when he spotted a huge opening to sprint under the uprights and Bairstow made sure of full reward.

A battle-weary Ossett side gained some measure of consolation when centre Liam Green spun out of a tackle for a final hurrah at the death.