Otley 37

Nottingham 5

WITH three tries under their belt at half-time the game was well and truly Otleys. For all the scoring opportunities Otley set up during the third quarter they were unable to finish off and their supporters became nervously apprehensive about the bonus point until, on 64 minutes.

Skipper Duncan Sayers took a short pass at speed to break the deadlock and the dam burst, three more tries following before the close of play.

Despite a four season's variation of weather during the 90 minutes both sides played adventurous rugby.

The physical pounding endured by the Midlanders gradually removed their greatest threat which was the rolling maul, which brought them the equaliser on 13 minutes, because their efforts to run the ball were constantly stymied by Otley's back row.

The game began with aerial ping-pong, Simon Binns the winner finding touch close in where a crooked throw gave Otley a scrum.

A cheeky grubber kick to the corner from Andy Brown set up a try for Chris Hall.

Full of confidence Otley moved the ball smoothly, Wasaile Sovatabua was almost over and further scores looked imminent.

However, Nottingham were awarded a penalty in front of the posts, wisely chose to go for touch and not goal and No 7 Richard Lloyd was driven over from the line-out to get a surprise equaliser.

A penalty attempt from Binns was blown wide. Nathan Bland, arguably Man-of-the-Match, got his foot to an attempted low drop out and gathered the ball to make inroads into the Nottingham 22 where they won a penalty for pulling down.

This, naturally, went into touch and Justin Wring was shown a yellow card for flattening the jumper. A scrum down was taken but Otley ruined the plan by stealing the ball and clearing.

Despite being a man down Otley continued to dictate play and Neil Taylor was brought down just short of the line where, after the ball had been secured, Brown slipped round the blind side.

That was three minutes into added time but Otley created two more chances before the half-time whistle.

Gaining a penalty in the opposition 22 a scrum was chosen and a kick through from Binns was hacked forward by No 8 Ed Thorpe but it proved just too strong, and the same option was taken when a penalty was awarded from the second drop-out.

The ball went to Chris Hall, who made ground before chipping ahead only to knock on as he struggled to gather the ball.

There was a steady stream of Nottingham replacements as they brought on fresh legs but it was due more to Otley's lack of finishing that the all important fourth try was delayed.

There was great relief when it arrived, fittingly scored by the skipper, Binns' conversion the only successful kick of the afternoon.

Excellent ball retention saw Otley move forward and Wasaile Sovatabua gained just reward for a solid performance when he was presented with a short run to the corner. It was Nottingham's turn to lose a player to the sin-bin, sub Nic Fitisemanu for a technical foul, and in his absence sub Matt Stockdale raced over from the base of a scrum ten metres out.

Replacing Sayers, Ben Steele had a short stay, adding a yellow to his collection, also for a technical offence in the 79th minute but it caused no inconvenience and sub Neil Law enjoyed a powerful 40 metre run to claim the seventh try.

Otley: Shuttleworth; Hall (Law 73), Taylor (Dench 65), Mooney, Sovatabua; Binns, Brown (Scully 61); Wring (Trethewey 65), Sayers (Steele 73), Fullman, Oakes, Connor, Tiffany, Bland, Thorpe (Stockdale 61).

Nottingham: Jackson; Logan (Stenhouse 61), Cook (Coles 53), Kirk, Molenaar; Thompson, Brennan (Shaw 48); Hall (Lea'actoa 48), Loney, Fowkes (Fuller ht), Hamilton, Morley (Blackwell 31), Hammond (Fitisemanu 48), Lloyd, Easter.

On Saturday Otley travel to Bedford seeking revenge for a rare home defeat. The teams have almost equal statistics so a great game is in prospect.

Otley's points scorers so far this season are:

Simon Binns 141, Ian Shuttleworth 27, Ed Thorpe 25, Wasaile Sovatabua 20, Dave Scully 15, Kris Fullman 10, Glen Wilson 10, Andy Brown 10, Chris Hall 10, Matt Stockdale 10, Neil Law 10, Penalty Tries 10, Duncan Sayers 5, Paul Mooney 5, Rob Whatmuff 5, Richard Pike 5, Justin Wring 5, Jason Oakes 5, Neil Taylor 5, James Tiffany 5.