Rishworthians 0 - 14 Cleckheaton

Rishworthians poor discipline costs the game

Match Report Sunday 25th September - Friendly

Rishworthians came up against a well drilled Cleckheaton pack today in a tightly fought encounter. Rishworthians were unlucky not to put any points on the board as the backs were very impressive when they got a chance to run at the opposition defence.

Rishworthians started well from the kick off and defended well against good Cleck pack, however the match was deadlocked for the first 15 minutes and both teams battled for the ball which seemed to be changing hands quite often.

The breakthrough came when Cleckheaton managed to recycle the ball on the 22 after a long period of possession. They fed their backs and one of their centres broke through the Rishies back line only to be dragged down at the last. But a good pick and go by one of their forwards proved too difficult to bring down and he went in for the try, converted by the Cleck number 10.

After the try Rish looked really fired up and this showed with big hits coming from scrum half Liam Phillips and number 8 Rob Varela. Shortly after this the poor discipline showed again and number 8 Varela was sin binned for a high tackle.

After a short period on the back foot Rish then got the ball down the backs line and fantastic running from James Gill almost got a try on the board but unfortunately he was tackled just into the 22. In the first half Rishworthians always looked like they were going to score but failed to turn pressure into points. Rishworthians frustration told when there were some handbags between Rishworthians and Cleckheaton forwards which resulted in Jordan Firth being red carded. Rishworthians went in at the break down to 14 men and it looked like they had a massive task ahead.

Half Time Rishworthians 0 - 7 Cleckheaton

In the second half there was no telling the difference between the two sides as they were both even at the break down and in the backs. There were, however, a few chances on both sides as again the Rish centres combined well to break the line but didn't manage to score.

What was impressive from the Rishworthians forwards was their tremendous work rate especially flanker Cameron Mcginn who was reacting well to the loose ball and putting in some massive hits. The extra man soon told and the Cleckheaton winger managed to make a break in the space out wide and score under the posts, this try was also converted. After this, Rishworthians looked impressive in defence and Cleckheaton couldn't break the back line. Tackling from centre James Gill was very impressive as he seemed to be in two places at once. Rish struggled to gain much possession at this stage in the game and no points were scored by either side.

An impressive performance from Rishworthians today, however the poor discipline showed again. On the other hand, the forwards were battling very hard for each other and this showed when the players left the field. The score line did not reflect the game today and the Rish lads can be very proud of the effort they put in. Men of the match - James Gill and Cameron Mcginn.

Cleckheaton website

Squad
	1. B Gaskin	2. W Graham	3. J Firth
6. D Higginbottom				7. C McGinn
	4. J Whitley		5. J St-Hilaire
		8. R Varela
9. L Phillips>
	10. J Waldron
		12. J Gill
			13. L Johnstone
11. R Town				14. L Chan
		15. R Partington
Subs
R Irvine G Nicolson	C Patchet, C Szoke	S Hughes