Wharfedale RUFC 17, Otley RUFC 13 11/09/10

On Saturday Otley supporters enjoyed what must surely

be the most beautiful rugby trip in the world – up through the dale to

Grassington to see Otley take on local rivals Wharfedale. Their lovely ground

was packed. Anyone hoping for a seat in the stand had to arrive very early.

It’s a pleasure to do so as you can spend the time before kick-off absorbing

the atmosphere as you look up towards Cracoe Fell and Ellbolton – universally

acknowledged to be the most perfectly formed reef-knoll on the planet.

 

Rejoicing thus in the natural beauties of our world

is, of course, a great joy and privilege – until the match starts and more

pressing matters take centre-stage! We were all hoping for a typical derby

clash between the two clubs, a game played with derring-do and gay abandon and

yet with uncompromising grit and determination. We were not disappointed.

 

In the first minute Wharfedale were awarded a penalty

for a silly obstruction and duly took the lead 3-0.  After five minutes, the Otley  full-back Toby Quanderon had to leave  the field injured and Will Nelson stepped off

the substitutes’ bench to replace him.  Otley

promptly responded by putting great pressure upon the Wharfedale defence and

gained a penalty for offside in the home 22 metre area.  Jervis Manapenu, brought in to replace Nelson

at outside-half, stepped up to take the kick and promptly levelled the scores

at 3-3.

Strong Otley pressure ensued,

most of it well orchestrated by Manapenu. From one particularly promising

attack, Nelson burst through from full-back but his pass was intercepted by

Wharfedale’s star centre, Chris Malherbe, and the scoring opportunity was lost.

Manapenu now started to boss the match, kicking very well both tactically and

for position.

 

After 15 minutes Otley

developed a very good move from a tap-penalty. The ball was moved swiftly and

effectively along the line and a defence spitting pass was sent out to James

Twomey on the right-wing. Alas, Twomey uncharacteristically took his eye off

the ball, the pass was dropped and the scoring opportunity was lost.

 

Five minutes later, Wharfedale

were awarded a penalty for a ruck offence near the half-way line. An excellent

goal kick put them 6-3 in front. Three minutes after that, Otley were awarded a

very kickable penalty just outside the opposition’s 22 metre area and at an

angle of about 45 degrees to the goal; alas, Manapenu missed. A second Otley

penalty, for a rucking offence, was used to drill the ball down into the

opposing left-hand corner. The line out was won and the ball was skilfully transferred

across the three-quarter line. A series of rucks, drives and more rucks left

Otley with a clear overlap and an obvious try scoring opportunity. The final

pass went out to Twomey, who promptly dropped the ball and the chance had gone

begging.  Twomey proved to be one of the

“finds” of last season and produced some fine performances; he is obviously a

player of considerable promise. However, 

every rugby player is entitled to the occasional bad game and off-day

and  this was James Twomey’s and he could

have little complaint when he was substituted.

 

To add to Otley’s woes, after 25

minutes, Richard Beck was sin-binned for failing to release the ball in the

tackle. It was fair enough – the referee had certainly offered enough warnings.

Otley didn’t let this make them despair, and they launched a vigorous attack

upon the Wharfdale line. A very good attack was then ruined by a poor final

pass.

 

Wharfedale struck back. A

great run by their flanker David Hughes threatened the Otley line, but he was

grounded by a fine tackle. The pressure was stepped up and Otley lost a crucial

line- out. Fortunately the ball went loose and Nelson cleared the danger with a

fine kick to touch. 

On 35 minutes Wharfedale

established an ascendency when winger Simon Horsfall made a great run from deep

in Wharfedale territory, broke the defence with a fine chip and chase and

touched down for an excellent try. The conversion was missed, but Wharfedale

led by 11 points to 3.

 

Otley responded by ratchetting

up the pressure. A series of powerful rucks and mauls put Wharfedale on the

back foot. Eventually an offence at a maul gave Otley a penalty under the

posts. Manapenu obliged with the kick and Otley went into the half time

dressing rooms trailing by just 11 points to 6. 

 

After the break, Otley tore

into the attack. Wharfedale withstood the pressure, but eventually at the

expense of a sin-binning. Otley now laid siege to the Wharfedale line. The Wharfedale

defence was awesome as they repelled attack after attack. After one

particularly determined attack, Wilson Curtis was just held up over the line.

From the scrum on the left wing, Otley moved the ball to the open side.

Wharfedale conceded another penalty. The ball was kicked into the left-hand

corner. The line out was won cleanly to signal the setting-up of a series of

rucks and mauls as Otley edged ever- forward. Eventually the Wharfedale defence

cracked and a fine orthodox passing move saw captain Jamie Sutton glide over

for his first try for the club. He fully deserved the try. He had played a

determined and feisty game and had steadfastly refused to let the minor matter

of a badly cut and bruised eye put him off his stride. Manapenu converted and

Otley led 13-11.

 

Winger Ben Collins had to

leave the field to be replaced by Ollie Stedman – a back row forward. To

confuse matters for Otley  even further, Robert

Afoa-Peterson got himself sin binned. To add to Otley’s woes, they now had to face

an Upper-Wharfedale standard rain storm.

 

Otley now had to withstand

unrelenting pressure from Wharfedale and when they were penalised for holding

in the ruck, Wharfedale took full advantage and converted the penalty into a

14-13 lead. More pressure built up and more penalties were conceded. With 10

minutes to go, Wharfedale scored another penalty to increase their lead to

17-13.

 

Otley never let their heads go

down and continued to launch a series of spirited attacks. On a number of

occasions good moves were ruined by a poor final pass, or poor handling, or

dubious decision- making under pressure. The penalties now started to mount up

in Otley’s favour as Wharfedale desperately held on.

 

One last chance came as Otey

drove a penalty kick deep down toward the right-hand corner. The ball was lost,

Wharfedale cleared. From the ensuing line-out on the Whafedale 22, another

attack was launched but the formidable Wharfedale defence held firm at the last,

with Curtis Wilson being held up over the line by a marvellous tackle from

Wharfedale’s Simon Horsfall.  As time was

running out, Wharfedale cleared their line, the ball found touch and the

referee blew for full- time. 

 

Thus, Otley had lost 13-17.

The bonus point may be some consolation, but this was a game they could well

have won. Otley dominated possession and position for much of the match but

could rarely convert the dominance into points. Much of this was due to the doughty

defence offered by the home team; but much of it was also due to poor handling

at crucial moments. At least four tries went begging because of elementary

mistakes under psychological pressure when a little steadiness would have

surely led to tries being scored. This tendency to crack under pressure, allied

to conceding too many penalties, proved to be Otley’s downfall. Last week the

main problem was poor defence; but there can be no complaint this week on that

score – Otley’s defence was fearless and solid throughout.  Let’s hope the lessons have been learned and

in future games Otley will show more composure when the opposing line is

beckoning.

 

It was a stirring game between

two teams committed to positive rugby. Otley could have won, but victory

finally went to the better team on the day.

 

Next week it’s Cornish All

Blacks at Cross Green. It should be another exciting game – try not to miss it.