Otliensians struggle for possession

Otliensians 6

A difficult away fixture at Northallerton in the Powergen Junior Vase saw the Old Otliensians struggle for possession.

The home side's superior pace and commitment left Otliensians trailing 11-0 at half-time with two well struck penalties and a well worked try from their open side flanker.

Matters were made worse for the Chaffer's Field side when left winger Rob Wilkes had to leave the field with a dislocated shoulder and the experienced No 8 Rob Arbuckle with a groin strain.

The second-half was always going to be an uphill battle and within two minutes of the re-start poor line-kicking from Otliensians allowed the Northallerton backs to score an easy try.

Further injuries to Otliensians saw hooker Ben Newall and lock forward Andrew Bower replaced. All the time the home side's confidence grew and further tries inevitably followed somewhat helped by lacklustre tackling from the Otley side.

On Saturday Otliensians hope to get back on track against Wetherby in the league.

Otliensians A 14

Barnsley 19

Otliensians Seconds entertained Barnsley, newly promoted to Yorkshire Three and with a reorganised side, expected a hard game. They were not disappointed and the visitors were soon on the score sheet after six and 12 minutes scoring two tries, one of which was converted after some rapid handling moves.

Otliensians gradually came back into the game as the new combinations settled down and began to win ball and handle with some confidence.

This period of play resulted in a lot of pressure on the Barnsley line and after a series of good attacks, full back Richard Cuff was brought down just short but skipper Peter Tempest, as always never far from the ball, followed up well to score. Stand-off Ian Chaplin, in his first game of the season, converted.

Barnsley soon moved on to the attack again and some good defensive work kept them out until a lapse of concentration allowed a Barnsley player a clear 20 metre run to the line. The try was converted right on half-time giving Barnsley a 19-7 lead.

Ben Smith had to leave the field with a damaged shoulder and was replaced by Richard Bush for a second-half which proved to be full of exciting end to end rugby.

Chaplin took control of the game at stand off keeping the ball in front of his forwards, who were now dominating play in the loose for long periods.

The line-out also worked a little better with both Dave Roberts and Roy Appleyard taking some clean ball. Twice Otliensians were unlucky not to score but with five minutes remaining a good three-quarter move inspired by Chaplin, saw wing Steve Lofthouse dragged down just short. From the well won loose ball Phil Cook scored near the posts for Chaplin to convert. Newcomer Ben Robinson had a promising game in the centre.

Otliensians can take great credit from this performance against a skillful and well-organised side and given another ten minutes playing time victory would have been a possibility.