Otley Town 2, Steeton 1

Otley Town continued their fine run of results when they defeated a very spirited Steeton side 2-1 at the Old Showground.

Town have now won three games on the trot and have a good record of four wins and a draw from their last six games.

Both teams started at a fast pace on Saturday with the visitors creating the better chances in the first ten minutes. Two good chances to break through did come the way of Dean Wagstaff but on both occasions his control let him down.

The quick passing moves of Steeton, along with the pace of their forwards, left the home team chasing shadows and a Steeton forward was guilty of a bad miss when well placed.

Steeton proved to be a very good counter attacking team and were at their most dangerous when breaking from their own penalty area.

After having weathered the early storm, Otley battled back and began to cause some problems for the visitors. Two good chances came Otley's way in the 20th minute. First Wagstaff had a shot blocked in the penalty area and from the rebound Tom Chadwick also saw his drive well smothered by a Steeton defender.

In the next minute it was the turn of Lee Grice to shoot wide with only the 'keeper to beat.

Otley were now starting to control the game and they took the lead in the 27th minute following an excellent move down the right. The ball was fed to Ian Wolfenden who slid a great pass up alongside Wagstaff who beat his marker and put across an inviting ball for Grice to expertly stretch out a leg to convert the chance in true poacher's style, putting Otley 1-0 up.

The game continued to flow at a frenetic pace with Steeton showing great spirit and determination to get back on level terms. In the 43rd minute Otley 'keeper Graham Bentley was injured when trying to clear a superb cross from the left and needed attention for several minutes.

For the remaining period of the first-half Bentley was under severe pressure as Steeton piled in the crosses but he showed great character, and composure, to handle everything that came his way with a clean pair of hands.

Otley went in at the interval slightly fortunate to be 1-0 in the lead having not played well early on in the half. However, they knew their performance could only get better and returned to the pitch determined to improve their defending and looking to build on their lead.

The second-half began with Otley showing more control and composure. The Otley defence in particular were giving Steeton less room and Town were on top. Grice fed Wagstaff but his shot went high. On 51 minutes Otley deservedly went 2-0 up, the goal coming from a corner.

The magical left foot of Chadwick delivered a ball for Steve Boddy to force home at the near post - a deserved reward for Boddy who was trying to recover from a particularly heavy challenge earlier in the game.

Once again, Steeton refused to buckle and in the 54th minute were rewarded with a penalty when Andrew Redman was judged to have been too vigorous when blocking off a Steeton forward as Bentley dived into a cluster of feet in a crowded box.

Bentley brought off a fine save from the penalty and this would have finished off many teams but not Steeton. They delivered a great driven and swerving cross from the left that had Bentley at full stretch. The ball was spilled and Steeton's Chris Smith was on hand to force the ball home to make the score 2-1.

Not long after this Otley made two substitutions with Paul Harrison replacing the injured Boddy and John Flaherty making his first team debut in place of Redman.

Steeton were understandably inspired by their goal but it was Otley who were making by far the better chances. Joe Lunn had a fine shot well saved by the 'keeper and then Paul Harrison headed over from a great position.

A good corner by Wagstaff was dealt with by the visiting 'keeper but only at full stretch. Otley were still creating the chances and Grice shot wide after latching onto a blocked effort by Wagstaff. The same players saw further efforts go begging soon after and the home team really should have added to their lead.

Wolfenden was the next Otley player to leave the fray and Lee Coonan made a welcome return to action. Otley continued to have the chances to control the remainder of the game but their passing began to falter and it required some timely tackles by Terry Pearson and John Flaherty to keep them safe.

In the last few minutes Mark Currie injured a hamstring and Town had to re-shuffle their team once again to see time out for their hard won win. Steeton are to be commended on their fantastic spirit but it was Otley who had deserved their win which takes them off the bottom of the table and up to 11th place in the league.

Coach Graham Morgan feels the team have been showing more of their true form of late and that the remainder of the season will see a rapid rise up the table if this standard continues. Certainly, a top half of the table finish is possible on this form.

However, the team now have to re-play their County Cup match against Lepton Highlanders as Town have been judged to have fielded an ineligible player for the last 20 seconds of their 3-2 win a few weeks back. Town thus visit Lepton on Saturday, kick-off 1.30pm.

This Saturday sees Town Reserves travel to Beckwithshaw for a league game. Kick off 2pm. Otley Town A travel to Catterick Village and Otley Town B are at home to Kirby Malzeard A. Both these matches kick off at 2pm.