National League Two North: Huddersfield 18 Otley 22

JOE Rowntree deservedly won the man of the match award, scoring 17 points to help Otley to their third away win of the season in National League Two North.

The visitors made a good start at Lockwood Park, with Tom O'Donnell getting his hands on Otley's kick-off, which led to the hosts making mistakes.

After the second scrum, Otley's dominance continued, and Rowntree slotted his first points of the afternoon when Huddersfield gave away a sixth-minute penalty ten metres out.

Otley continued to take the initiative and, helped out by returnee Oli Goss, Brett Mitchell took a diagonal line from the hosts' 22 to crash over, Rowntree's conversion making it 10-0 after ten minutes.

It took Huddersfield until after the first quarter was over to get into Otley's 22, but they got on the scoresheet on 22 minutes when lock Nick Sharpe scored a try near the posts, with his side having taken the ball from a line-out inside Otley's half.

Fly half Harry Davey's conversion reduced the deficit to 10-7 but Rowntree extended Otley's lead when the hosts were caught offside just inside their half.

Visiting full back Tom Hodson made a blistering 30-metre break down the left-hand flank, only to be halted inside the opposition's 22, but soon after Brandon Conway went down the left wing for Huddersfield, Otley's scrambling defence conceding a penalty which Davey kicked.

Five minutes after half-time, Huddersfield took the lead.

When a kick out of defence by Otley was charged down, they had to scramble to clear their lines, managing to find touch at the second attempt.

From the line-out, Huddersfield established a maul and pushed Otley back over their line, with Conway putting the ball down.

On 50 minutes, Rowntree restored Otley's lead from just inside the Terriers' half with another long-range missile.

Five minutes later, following an altercation, former Otley prop Adam Blades was shown a yellow card, Rowntree landed a long-range penalty.

However, Huddersfield pressed again and former Otley and Bradford & Bingley player Adam Malthouse came close to scoring in the right corner, the touch judge saying that the ball had bounced before he got it down.

The home side already had the advantage from an earlier knock on, however, and Otley were penalised at the next breakdown.

At this point the electronic scoreboard had Huddersfield leading, and this may have explained why they went for the three points rather than go in the corner, but Davey's successful penalty meant that the hosts were still one point behind.

With time running out, the re-start put the ball back in the Huddersfield half, and another penalty by the home side for not releasing gave Rowntree the chance to kick his fifth penalty of the day.

Huddersfield still knew that a try would give them the lead, and pressed Otley to the end, but the hosts knocked-on, and from the scrum, Nick Coupland kicked the ball into the car park to seal the visitors' win.