Otliensians 9

Stocksbridge 16

IN a closely fought game at Pool Road Otliensians were beaten by two tries and two penalties to three penalties. Skipper Richard Smith returned after a two week absence but a number of first choice players were still absent through injury and other reasons.

Within five minutes Matt Tenniswood put the home side in the lead with a sweetly struck penalty but this was cancelled out five minutes later by a Wilkinson penalty for the visitors.

Much of the play was concentrated up front and Matthew Payne, always in the thick of it, suffered a bad elbow injury. Stocksbridge No 8 Oliver Walters drove through the defence to score an unconverted try.

On 20 minutes Otliensians' centre Chris Bawden, who had looked the most penetrative of the Otliensian backs, had to be replaced by Rob Wilks due to a knee injury.

Otliensians at this stage were getting their share of possession, particularly from the line-out where Brett Tenniswood and Dave Roberts were contesting well. Possession was not always tidy and at times slow transference put the backs under pressure.

There were some useful rolling mauls by Otliensians throughout the first-half and from one of these Peter Bonner was unlucky not to be able to ground the ball. In defence all the backs put in tackles starting from half-backs Ritson and Chaplin and the score remained 3-8 to half-time.

Play was fairly even in the early phases of the second-half but Matt Tenniswood reduced the arrears to two points with a penalty.

Halfway through the second period he put Otliensians into the lead with a magnificent kick from just inside the Stocksbridge half.

Unfortunately for Otliensians their lead was to be short-lived as they conceded a penalty a few minutes later. Centre Martin Bye converted.

Otliensians continued to try and regain the lead but they just could not obtain and keep sufficient possession when it mattered and found it difficult to break down strong Stocksbridge defence. Indeed it was the visitors who went further ahead just before the close with No 8 Walters repeating his earlier try.

There had been some good work in defence particularly by the forwards at close quarters. Skipper Richard Smith led the way with some fine tackling. The forwards as a whole needed to get closer in support of the man with the ball and to be quicker to the breakdown.

As a pack they drove well in the tight frequently pushing Stocksbridge backwards. The front row of Payne, Paley and Bonner worked hard as did Dave Roberts, soldiering on to the end despite the recurrence of an old leg injury just before half-time.

Youngster Richard Cliff, making his first team debut, had some good runs as flanker and cleared well in defence on occasion.

Of the backs, Ady Fawell made useful contributions in attack and defence.

l On Saturday Otliensians entertain Halifax Vandals at Pool Road. They are currently bottom of the league and Otliensians will be looking for a win. Kick-off 2.15pm, all supporters welcome.

Otliensians A 41

Stocksbridge 12

With the Stocksbridge pitch waterlogged, this Yorkshire League Three Merit game was transferred to Chaffer's Fields. Otliensians, fielding a good blend of youth and experience, were soon on the defensive against an older Stocksbridge pack but showed they had potential in the backs.

Tony Collins, revelling in his back row role, combined well with Simon Coates to release Dougie Jardine at full-back who ran well for the first score. Steve Wilson began to drive the ball over the game line and with scrum-half John James combining well with stand-off Coates, centre Steve Hammond scored and Coates converted.

Ben Smith and Alan Harker were winning clean line-out ball and Wilson scored from a driving maul. The visitors hit back with a scrambled try but an astute kick through from Coates was read well by Jonathan Woods to score, Coates converting. Stocksbridge moved the ball well to score a converted try on the break to reduce the lead to 24-12.

After making several changes at the interval, Otliensians attacked confidently and Woods scored his second try after opening the defence with a good dummy. An excellent run from Jardine gave him a second try and Andy Hayward completed the scoring with a try which he converted.

A good display from Otliensians with encouraging performances from the young players Smith, Jardine, James, Harker and Simon Willaby.