Hayden comes of age in points spree

5:02pm Sunday 2nd November 2008

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Cleckheaton 31, West Hartlepool 0

Ross Hayden’s 21 points helped Cleckheaton bounce back yesterday in North Division One after last weekend's defeat at Stockport.

Hayden got the scoreboard ticking within two minutes, his break splitting the defence and his conversion taking the score to 7-0.

With both sides testing each other early on but also making basic mistakes, it was Cleck who looked more in control and they were rewarded in the 16th minute with a try from prop Andy Piper off the scrum, Hayden converting for 14-0.

West had a chance to pull points back with a penalty in the 20th minute but Paul Moss’s kick went wide.

Cleckheaton's backs started to work the ball more, but at times just lacked the finish and could have had two more tries, but with the hosts down to 14 men after Matt Piper was binned in the 29th minute, they had to settle for a Hayden penalty nine minutes later.

Cleckheaton started the second half where they left off the first, and Hayden was soon in the thick of things and unlucky not to score from a kick through in the 47th minute.

Despite the visitors having Tom Dixon binned soon after, they broke out of defence in the 57th minute, Moss running the ball from deep only for Hayden to intercept his pass and run from just inside the West half to score a try that he converted himself.

West’s only real chance of scoring came four minutes later when pressure from thir forwards had them within five metres of the Cleckheaton line, but the hosts held firm.

With Cleck having Waisale Sovatabua binned in the 67th minute, they again scored with a man down in the shape of Lance Hamilton three minutes later, Hayden rounding off the afternoon with the conversion.