Pack power sees Sandal prevail as van der Merwe shines for Morley

In contrast to their hosts, Morley had not won in six games but it was they who took the lead, South African Dante van der Merwe cutting through the defence to touch down with Kenny Sewell converting.

Flanker Sean Maguire pulled back five points and after half an hour Simon Frewin edged Huddersfield ahead with Mark Pease adding a conversion and penalty to give Sandal what looked like a comfortable 15-7 lead at the break.

But a Sewell penalty and a converted try from winger Tom Clough saw Morley once more in front. It wasn’t until seven minutes from time that a rolling maul was finished off by Tom Proctor with Pease converting.

Huddersfield YMCA beat Lymm 36-19 to earn back-to-back wins for the first time despite trailing 12-0 after half an hour.

They hit back with tries from Adam Ryder and James Bell, both converted by Gavin Stead, to edge in front at the break.

YMCA then dominated. Bell and Ryder picked up their second tries, stand-off Ed Barber also touched down and they rounded off a comfortable afternoon with a late penalty try.

Cleckheaton continued their momentum with a third bonus point victory in succession, beating Burnage 31-12 at home.

The hosts showed their intention early when powerful play led to Matt Piper scoring the first try with Ross Hayden converting. Cleckheaton continued their dominance and a second try for Piper plus a brace of tries from James Wilson plus two conversions from Hayden extended the lead.

Burnage countered with a concerted try by Halliwell but a 19-point interval lead reflected the enterprising play of the hosts. The second half was marked by unforced errors from both sides but with Wilson completing his hat- trick and Burnage scoring a consolation second try late on, the final score was a true indication of the distance between the two teams.

Sheffield Tigers suffered a knock when they lost 31-26 to Rossendale, who overtook them in the table. Tigers secured two bonus points, but it was little consolation. Henry Packard and Pete Swatkins scored first-half tries and Liam Wallace kicked a penalty, but Tigers trailed 28-13.

Stefan Destounis powered over for a try and Swatkins ran a kick straight through for his second which brought the score to 28-26, but another penalty clinched Ross’s win.

A spirited fightback was not enough to save Beverley from a 39-29 defeat to Wirral. Richard Bussey (2) and George Rayner scored tries.