Old Otliensians 25

Halifax Vandals 7

A sixth consecutive league victory saw Old Otliensians maintain a commanding lead at the head of Yorkshire League Division Four. Having had a free Saturday players were eager to get back into action but found bottom of the table Halifax Vandals, a difficult team to overcome.

Once again Otliensians' pack got on top early on and looked as though they were going to have a field day, especially when the dynamic Richard Smith powered his way over after a series of forward surges, after only six minutes.

However, as the home side looked to build on this early score, mistakes and poor decision making led to the Chaffer's Field side losing concentration. Frustration and over eagerness added to their problems and it was no surprise when the Vandals' No 10 danced and stepped his way over from just inside Otliensians' half.

Adding the conversion was a formality and to the annoyance of the home crowd, the visitors found themselves in a 7-5 lead.

The Otley side needed to re-gather their wits and composure and it was their scrummaging superiority that saw Otliensians create the next scoring opportunity. No 8 Arbuckle picked up and sucked in two or three Halifax players and at last made the right decision to pass the ball quickly.

Great play between the Keinhorst boys, out on the left, saw Marcus drive in at the corner for an unconverted try and a 10-7 half-time lead for the table-toppers.

The second-half followed a similar pattern with things not just clicking into place for Otliensians. It was only the constant driving and forceful leadership of Richard Smith and his namesake, David Smith at full-back, that kept the home side in sight of victory.

Andrew Bush was also working overtime and young James Duggan was unlucky to be denied a great try when the pass from Birch was ajudged to be forward. It was no more than he deserved when Richard Smith powered his way over for his second try to make the score 15-7.

Will Foster added a well struck penalty and also his willingness to hit the tackle area and retain the ball was a vital ingredient for Otliensians' victory.

With only two minutes remaining Kristian Keinhorst got in on the act with fancy piece of footwork to scythe his way to the try line for an excellent try to seal a rather unconvincing victory for the Otley side.

Halifax Vandals A 0

Otliensians A 43

Playing at Vandals on the high Pennine moors location is always an experience but at least early in the season there is no snow. However, the conditions were wet and the Vandals second string were largely a veterans side with a heavy experienced pack of forwards.

The early stages of the game were inevitably a struggle for Otliensians and the game was a little scrappy but speed and fitness began to tell and despite a lack of primary possession the visitors scored two good tries which Mattie Tenniswood converted.

Vandals rarely produced any telling attacks and Otliensians were happy to have a 14-0 lead at the break.

In the second-half Otliensians began to win more possession and although the line-out ball was sometimes untidy they began to dominate the set scrums. Tries came at regular intervals and a good win was recorded at this sometimes difficult venue.

Try scorers were skipper Brett Tenniswood, Dave Roberts, Adi Fawell, Rob Gray, Andy Causer playing on the wing as opposed to his normal scrum-half berth and Andy Till.

Mattie Tenniswood converted five of the six tries, kicked a penalty and also kicked very well out of hand for position. Anthony Greenfield had another strong game in the back row as did Tom Twist at prop.

Harrogate Pirates 29

Otliensians B 7

With calls from the senior sides Otliensians thirds were still able to travel to Harrogate with a substitute. They were also pleased to welcome back to the Club former first XV Captain Neil Barlow at stand-off after a gap of some seven years.

With quite a young side Otliensians struggled from the start to win ball against the experienced Harrogate pack but Ray Drake and Simon Thorpe worked hard to win some good line-out ball. The half-backs Sam Ridgeway and Barlow were able to launch their centres Steve Ogden and Richard Watts at centre and the game was well balanced for the first 20 minutes before the experience of the home side backs told and they scored wide out.

Barlow was leading the way with some good tackling and kicks for position utilising the untidy ball to advantage. One good move saw Simon Thomas in the back row storm upfield but the support in depth was absent. Harrogate scored again after 30 minutes and from a tap and run near Otliensians line almost on the break to give them a 15-0 lead at the break.

Turning round and with some re-organisation as the new players settled down Otliensians started strongly up the slope. From a ruck Barlow broke in the home 22 to put Thorpe in near the posts after 15 minutes, Barlow converting.

At this stage Otliensians began to have visions of turning the game around having repulsed some strong Harrogate attacks but after 25 minutes the home side scored and converted. Otliensians tried hard to reduce the arrears with Oliver Richards making good ground from collected kicks and Tom O'Connor on the other wing running hard on several occasions.

However, Harrogate scored a further converted try on the final whistle. This was another good effort from the third XV with again some promising newcomers in the team. Paul Tosney had a sound game at full-back and Steve Lofthouse acted as a rolling sub in several positions.

l On Saturday the first XV have a key league game at Hessle. The second XV play Hessle at home and the third XV are scheduled for a home game against Nestle Rowntrees.