Yet again the 17s lost a game that perhaps they should have won, as a late innings run chase fell just short.

Captain Siraj Hussain lost the toss and the team were on the defensive against a strong opening pair. The bowling and fielding was the proverbial curates egg - good in parts.

A Liam Holmes catch provided Daanyaal Ahmed with a breakthrough, but whilst the boys bowled well overall, Cleckheaton were ruthless in punishing anything remotely wayward.

Lightcliffe did pull the game back as Patrick Wild put in an excellent 4 over spell at the death to restrict the home side to an get-able total.

Only Liam Collins established himself in the top order as wickets fell consistently - often to soft shots. Wild's excellent maximum followed next ball to a tame dismissal to a full toss, a perfect example.

The critical mid innings phase was where the game was lost.

With Collins and Irsalaan Ahmed established, a surge was expected but not materialized. Teammates, crowd and (under his breath) umpire cheered, cajouled and pleaded for a change in tempo and a search for quick singles. In response - ambling between the wickets; a 2 to the longest boundary where 3 was mandatory the most glaring omission.

As the runrate started to lengthen, wickets started to fall. Credit to Jasper Ayrton (in his first appearance of the season) for turning ones into impossible twos and Jake Broadbent for getting the team close.

As it was, with boundaries hard to come by, Cleckheaton set their fielding out well and held on for victory.