9:45pm Sunday 7th March 2010
Launceston 50, Otley 18
With three key players missing, Otley’s trip to third-placed Launceston looked a daunting one and so it proved.
Skipper Howard Parr, England under-18 international Chris Walker and Ben Hough were all unavailable.
On the plus side, the Cross Greeners were able to call on fly half James Murray for his first game in 11 weeks and Joel Gill was back to take his place at centre.
Although, as usual, Otley produced flashes of excellent handling, overall they were not strong enough for their experienced opponents.
The home side were quick to strike, centre Ryan Westren taking an inside pass from his winger to go over with just two minutes on the clock.
After Murray missed with a penalty attempt, home full back Jon Fabian came into the line to touch down, giving winger Kieron Lewit a simple conversion.
Keeping the ball to themselves, the Launceston forwards then drove over, No 8 Sam Hocking grabbing the try.
A Murray penalty put Otley on the board but the Cornishmen soon added to their tally, Lewit scoring and converting.
A purple patch from Otley saw a second penalty by Murray followed by a fine converted try for speedy winger James Twomey, which saw them trail 24-13 at the break.
They were unable to maintain the momentum after the interval as centre Steve Perry was put over nine minutes into the second half and Fabian added his second.
No 9 Ollie Stedman went over for Otley’s final score before Fabian completed a hat-trick and replacement prop Tim Mathias scored in the final minute to confirm the hosts’ superiority.
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