In wet and windy conditions Stockport produced their best rugby of the season so far, beating Cleckheaton by 39 -0 in the game at Headlands Road. The first score was on the board after only 2 minutes, with Steve Pearson making a break to score and convert his own try to put the home side 7-0 up before Cleckheaton had touched the ball. New wing Joe Cormack touched down after Fullback Drew charged down a Cleckheaton kick, but he had put a foot into touch. The Cleckheaton hooker was then yellow carded for an offence at a ruck before Cormack got his first try for the team when he had the pace to go outside his man following a good scrum by Stockport, 12-0. With Stockport dominant there was a set back when wing Dan Eccles received a red card on 15 minutes and the visitors started to get into the game, they got a penalty from 30 metres but were unable to convert. The 14 man Stockport team replied with a try for fullback James Drew after a Pearson kick head was followed up by Drew, who hacked on and got the touchdown to make it 17-0. Flanker John Wilson was injured and replaced by second row Graham Chenoweth and Stockport finished the half strongly.

The first period of the second half was a bit of a stalemate with play stuck in the middle of the field before Cleckheaton spurned a penalty chance, opting to run and turning the ball over. Dave Rees came on for the injured Steve Pearson and started a move in his own 22, which involved a great pass by Drew, a good run by Greg Newton at centre before the ball was taken on by Ruben Harvey, who gave a scoring pass for Craig Cooper to score under the posts. Rees converted to put the home side clear at 24-0. Rees then converted a penalty from in front of the posts before starting another exciting move in the Stockport 22 with an excellent break, which led to a second try for Drew, the move included more good running by Cormack but the try was not converted. Stockport finished strongly and hooker Tom Cruise, who had a great game scored a try following a brilliant run by flanker Ruben Harvey, who was covering on the wing. Harvey took an inside pass from Rees and tore the Cleckheaton defence open with his angle of run, he was supported by no 8 Van Shalkwyk, who made ground to the line to allow Cruise to pick up and dive over. Rees added the conversion to make it a 39 points to 0 victory.

Next week will be away to Sheffield Tigers and will be a much harder game but following this convincing victory confidence will be high. The Clubâ€™s 2nd 3rd and 4th teams also recorded good wins to remain in contention in their leagues.