After two early Old Brods tries, Cleckheaton started to dominate the scrums and rucks and put pressure on the home defence. Nathan Smith picked up a loose ball and dived over for a try converted by Mikey Bray to reduce the score to 12-7. Unfortunately, due to a neck injury to an Old Brods prop, who was unable to push but still able to play on, the referee called for uncontested scrums which took away Cleckheaton’s advantage in that area. This meant that for the second time this season against Old Brods, the home side has called for uncontested scrums due to a prop injury and not having a suitable replacement.

Old Brods extended their lead either side of half-time as tempers flaired due to the stop-start nature of the game. Fists flew from both teams on three occasions, with only one visiting player required to leave the field.

Ben Leitch and Mikey Bray scored second-half tries with Mikey Bray converting his own try to give Cleckheaton a hope of closing the gap but Old Brods maintained their lead with two more tries to win 36-19.

Very good runs by Tom Wrigley and Alex Hogg almost gained more Cleckheaton points and strong tackling by Kieran Dawson and Niall Davison were positives to take out of a scrappy game. Charlie Humphreys was named Man of the Match for his endless running and commitment.

Hopefully, the next time these two teams meet, there will be more self-discipline from the players and contested scrums to keep the adrenaline under control.