It wouldn't be surprising if a few Cleckheaton players are having nightmares featuring powerhouse centre James Fitzpatrick, who simply ploughed his way through their defences to notch a remarkable six-try tally with a hat-trick in each half.

While Kiwi right winger Willy Moala didn't score, it was his dancing, dodging forays that tormented the Tykes, and made him the chief architect of a thumping victory that keeps the Shieldsmen at the top of North One.

The disappointment was that Hull just managed to scrape a 24-23 win at Middlesbrough, and so remain within two points of Gareth Nesbit's side with three games still to play.

This 13-try scoring spree means, however, that for the first time Westoe now have the better scoring record by a margin of 14 points which, at the end of the day, could be crucial.

Nesbit was understandably delighted by his side's thrilling all-round performance with its emphasis on fast, open play, but spoke out in praise of third-bottom Cleckheaton.

He said: "You have to give them a lot of credit for the way they just kept on fighting.

"Even when our score was getting further out of reach, they still played as though there was just a point or two in it."

The hosts announced their intentions from the kick-off, launching an attack which ended with Moala giving the visitors the first taste of his talents as he spirited his way through to off-load to Fitzpatrick, who burst over from the 22.

Prop Raymie Elliott powered his way over from close range in the eighth and 32nd minutes, while sandwiched between were two more Moala-Fitzpatrick strikes.

A spate of Westoe misdemeanors kept their outplayed opponents in the game, winger Ross Hayden capitalising on two penalties, and then converting when flanker Ben Wade dived over.

But after the interval, Westoe had the considerable benefit of a strong wind on their backs down the slope and it was virtually one-way traffic.

The Haswell brothers, centre David and left winger Graeme, both benefiting from Moala's deft skills, each scored a brace of tries, while the rampaging Fitzpatrick continued to bulldoze through defenders to double his total.

Replacement prop Kieran McKeown also got in on the act and Ashley Moeke, who again impressed in his second outing for his new team, converted seven of the eight second-half tries after the wind had thwarted all his attempts in the first period.

* An utterly out-of-sorts Second XV never got to grips with well-drilled hosts West Hartlepool and sank to a 68-17 defeat in their Candy League clash.

The Thirds, who travelled to Ponteland with something of a scratch side, battled hard to win their Northumberland League clash 19-0 with tries by winger Craig Shaw (two) and hooker Robbie Scorer, fly-half Colin Gillespie converting twice.

The Colts were beaten 22-3 by Middlesbrough in the Northern regional final of the National Under-19 Cup at Wood Terrace yesterday, but put up a gritty fight against bigger and older opponents.