MOORTOWN 14

OTLIENSIANS 19

TWO changes again had to be made by Otliensians with Mark Stevens coming in for Richard Smith and Andy Cooper replacing Simon Dykes but this did not deter Otliensians from seeking victory on a very heavy pitch at Moortown.

Otliensians had advantage of the very strong wind in the first-half but despite this it was the home side who did most of the early attacking. They were lively, particularly in the backs.

They opened the scoring with a try quickly followed by a penalty for an 8-0 lead.

At this stage Darren Hardie sustained a shoulder injury and was replaced by Michael Wilson. As the game wore on Otliensians came much more into the game and after an excellent passing movement across the backs Andy Hayward took out the last tackler to pop the ball up for Anthony Collins to score under the posts. Ian Chaplin converted to reduce the arrears to one point.

Before half-time Moortown struck a further penalty to put them 11-7 in the lead.

With the wind advantage in the second-half it was expected Moortown would come back strongly but instead it was Otliensians who generally took control.

They went in front for the first time when Chaplin was quick to take advantage of a loose ball from a scrum close to the Moortown line to gain possession and score. There was no conversion.

Stung by this reverse Moortown came back onto the attack and Otliensians were penalised for tackling without the ball and the penalty goal restored Moortown's lead.

Otliensians were not to be denied. Although they lost Rob Wilks with a hand injury he was replaced by Graham Dobson and they took control in the last 15 minutes.

Dobson scored just inside the corner flag and an excellent kick from the touchline by Chaplin gave Otliensians a cushion to ward off the last 15 minutes and this they did comfortably.

They could look back on a very satisfactory performance in difficult conditions with Ian Chaplin having his best game of the season.

Otliensians A 21

Moortown A 12

Although ground conditions were good a strong wind blew directly across the pitch. Opening the game in lively fashion Otliensians took an early lead with a pushover try from Brett Tenniswood.

This was soon nullified when an Otliensians' attack saw the ball shipped out of the tackle directly into the hands of the Moortown winger who gleeflully ran 75 yards to the line to score. The conversion put them in the lead.

This was maintained for some time until Roy Aldridge struck home a penalty to wrest the lead from Moortown. A further try from the visitors put them 12-8 ahead at the break.

In the second-half it was very much nip and tuck. There were a lot of mistakes by both sides but also a lot of honest endeavour.

The home side restored their lead with an excellent interception try from Matthew Tenniswood which was converted by Aldridge.

A long range Aldridge penalty gave Otliensians the cushion they needed to safely play out the game for a well-earned win. This had been earned by a very solid defence with Mark Sellars in particular outstanding. The game was played in a good spirit by both sides.

Moortown B 7

Otliensians B 31

Two tries for No. 8 Dan Ridgeway was a just reward, and reflected the overall dominance of the pack who played throughout as a tightly knit unit and controlled this game from start to finish.

Right from the first whistle, Moortown were pinned in their own half when prop Dave Beardsley, chasing the kick off the not inconsiderable slope, nailed his opposite number.

The rest of the pack drove in to win a lineout on the 22. It wasn't long before this supremacy, following a series of textbook rucking and mauling, secured a scrum close to the line from which Ridgeway scored his first touchdown.

It was surprising that the final scoreline was not even more convincing given the amount of quality possession enjoyed by Otliensians.

However, the apparent lack of penetration in the threequarters owes more to the poor conditioning underfoot and the narrowness of the pitch than to any implied lack of flair or enterprise.

The home side's defence was however breached twice more before the break, the tries being scored by fly-half Ian Lawrence and centre John Thorpe.

The latter converting two of his first-half tries to take a 19 - 0 advantage at the end of the second peroiod.

Moortown were not for capitulating and the visitors, perhaps guilty of some complacency, conceded an early score before re-taking the initiative.

Probing blind side sorties by scrum-half Paul Brooks, incisive breaks by right wing Fraser Ritson and full-back Steve Hammond, and strong drives up the middle by forwards Chris Hayward, Paddy Wilkinson, and Jason Willacy kept up the visitors' attack.

Victory was assured when left wing Kurt Nutchy crossed in the corner and Ridgeway drove over under the posts from a five metre scrum for Thorpe to add to the final conversion.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.