Cleckheaton shell-shocked as Consett snatch late victory

CLECKHEATON have moved out of the relegation places in North One East as Pocklington only picked up a losing bonus point in a 17-10 defeat at Morpeth.

However, there was an air of despondency in the clubhouse at Moorend as Cleckheaton were leading Consett 37-20 with less than five minutes remaining.

The visitors then scored three tries in six minutes of normal time and stoppage time to not only consign Cleckheaton to two losing bonus points but give the north-easterners their first victory of the campaign at the 11th attempt with a 39-37 triumph.

Those two points were enough to lift the Moorenders to fourth from bottom but that seemed of secondary importance to the defeat.

The sin-binning of two-try winger Danny Booth in the 75th minute was the start of Cleckheaton’s decline, and they saw little of the ball after that as brave Consett swamped them with tries by prop Andrew Connor, full back Andrew Cook and fly half Alex Paulus, with Cook adding two conversions to leave the hosts shell-shocked.

“It was a bit of fitness issue after we went down to 14 men and were leading 37-20,” explained Cleckheaton flanker Brad Marsden, “and we started standing off, we had very little ball and they found their second wind.

“For 20 minutes we seem to play well and then for the next 20 minutes we play terribly as we are winning and seem to be cruising.

“We never seem to put in an 80-minute performance and we have lost games this season when we have been in charge.

“Discipline has also been an issue and it keeps on happening, but we have enough among us to stay up, and we did win seven straight games last season in February, March and April.”

Although Cleckheaton could not take advantage of winning an early penalty as, without three hookers, they lost the subsequent line-out, but the whole side were singing from the same hymn sheet in the sixth minute when they went ahead.

A great drive by the pack down the right put them in A1 position, and the ball was quickly switched left for full back James Wilson to put left winger Booth over.

Centre Mike Swetman narrowly missed the conversion but the hosts were then on the back foot when lock Josh Malkinson made contact with Chris Grey in a line-out near the home 22.

Consett made a concerted effort to level the scores, and did better than that when Paulus, via a combination of neat footwork and weak tackling, danced his way over for a try in the 23rd minute, with Cook landing the conversion.

Cleckheaton No 8 Jack Seddon was then sin-binned by referee David Downham (West Yorkshire Society) for a high tackle, and Consett cashed in with a try by Connor.

The hosts had conceded six penalties inside half an hour, and things got worse when Consett centre Dan Patchcott went over in the 35th minute to make it 17-5.

Matt Piper and Jack Bickerdike both read the riot act to their team-mates under the posts, and the words had the desired effect as Cleckheaton reached the interval only trailing by two points.

Mikey Hayward capitalised on a break by full back James Wilson in the 38th minute, and the latter was only stopped by a high tackle four minutes later, with the home fans screaming for an equalising yellow card.

Consett then had centre Henry Race helped off with what looked like a serious knee injury, and a minute later, five minutes into stoppage time, Booth was over again, although he did well to catch Swetman’s high pass.

Harsh words were doubtless uttered again to the hosts at half-time, and they seemed to have been heeded as, having already been awarded a penalty, hooker Joey Carley went over three minutes into the second half.

Swetman’s conversion made it 22-17 and, although Cook landed a penalty in the 46th minute for a shoulder charge by Andy Piper, the Cleckheaton revival seemed on course.

A delightful chip and retrieve by Seddon almost brought a try for replacement Will Denham, but Wilson went over in the 58th minute after great work by Hayward.

Swetman converted and added a penalty five minutes later, although the home side lost flanker Josh Plunkett in the interim with a twisted ankle.

Connor was sin-binned for a high tackle in the 64th minute, and a minute later Wilson was over for a try after Booth had been body-checked seconds before.

Few realised it at the time but that was the high-water mark for Cleckheaton, and they saw little ball for the rest of the match as the yellow Consett shirts swarmed all over them.

The visitors scored those three tries and two conversions to snatch victory, while Cleckheaton, who lost Denham with a back injury in the later stages, could only wonder what might have been.