Otley promoted after second-half show

10:04pm Sunday 20th April 2008

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Otley 47, Blackheath 0

After a difficult opening 20 minutes, in which they barely made it out of their own 22, Otley threw off their defensive shackles to gain promotion from National League Two.

However, having been at the right end of the table for so long this campaign, the Cross Greeners are not satisfied with mere promotion.

They want a maximum haul next week at Waterloo to ensure they win the title, thereby consigning fellow promoted team Manchester to second place.

Otley head coach Mark Luffman said after their ultimately dominant victory over fifth-placed Blackheath: "The management and the players are not just happy with promotion - and the players have just said it in the changing room.

"Being in the position we have been in since September, we would like to finish off next week with another five points and make sure of the championship as well."

A 47-0 victory looked light years away during the opening quarter as Otley had to defend in their right-hand corner for 14 minutes.

Only once did they break into Blackheath territory and that was in the sixth minute when the visitors were offside and Robin Kitching landed the penalty.

So, with so much at stake, were nerves to blame for Otley playing second fiddle in front of a crowd of 1,037?

Luffman said: "I don't think it was so much nerves as such. It was just that the boys were keen to play, keen to go out and attack them, and we probably played too much attack rather than sensible rugby - certainly in the first half.

"In the first half defensively we were outstanding and in the second half we played some really good pressure rugby.

"Had the score been reversed and we had been 15-0 down, I don't think we could have argued with it really, and from what I saw it looked like they scored two tries which they weren't given.

"We had the luck on our side but the lads also put their bodies on the line and we came through our sticky patch and exerted some pressure in the last ten minutes of the half and got two scores."

Blackheath forced three five-metre scrums and were twice held up over the Otley line but, despite having a man advantage when lock Richard Snowball was yellow-carded for interference, Black-heath could not make it count.

A rare incursion into visiting territory brought a try for No 8 Max Lewis in the 28th minute and three minutes later left winger Robin Kitching crossed.

Luffman said: "We said at half-time that we just needed to play basic rugby because we had hardly had the ball in the first half.

"We needed to get the ball in the right areas and take the points when they were available - and that's what we did and it paid off.

"We get some bad press for being quite a dour side and we score our fair share of forward tries because we have a dominant pack. But Rob Kitching has 15 tries, Danny Smith has nine and Shutts' has seven, so we are clearly not just a forward-oriented side."

Two Kitching penalties early in the second half unfurrowed some Otley brows and they finished matters with a flourish, scoring 26 points in the last 24 minutes.

Tries came for Dan Hyde, fellow flanker Xavier Andre on his first touch after returning to play as a replacement - he was on earlier as a blood-bin substitution for Hyde - Lewis and Kitching, after a great catch on the left wing from a Kyle Dench pass.

Kitching added three conversions to take his points tally for the match to 27 points and for the season to 230.