Last week Otley followed up their fine win

over Stourbridge with a resounding 55-13 thrashing of Nuneaton – only the

second victory away from home all season. Thus Otley went into today’s home

game against fellow relegation candidates Newbury only two points behind

Cinderford and six behind Newbury themselves. With Cinderford facing a very

tough home game with Cambridge and the Cross Green encounter looking a classic

“eight-pointer,” some vital end-of-season leap-frogging looked on the cards. A

few weeks ago Otley were firmly stuck on the final relegation spot, but now

survival seems a clear possibility and there  is all left to play for.

 

The pre-match news was worrying. Chris

Georgiou had to be replaced by Ryan Duckett at full-back and stand-off and goal

kicker James Murray gained the singular distinction of being the first man to

withdraw from an Otley team because he was stranded in a Spanish airport due to

an Icelandic volcano! Joe Barker, by training and avocation a wing-forward,

came off the substitutes’ bench to replace him.

 

Otley started the game very strongly and in

the very first minute launched a flowing three quarter move. Mark Kirby ran

across from the left-wing to enter the line cleverly on the right. This created

a small gap in the Newbury defence and Kirby saw the opportunity and  crisply delivered a well-timed pass to

right-winger Curtis Wilson. Wilson took the ball at speed and outpaced the

Newbury cover to touch down for a finely -worked and well finished try. In the

absence of Murray, goal-kicking duties fell to scrum-half Stephen Depledge. It

was a difficult conversion kick and, alas, he missed. But Otley led from the

off with a 5-0 margin.

 

Otley continued to dominate the early

exchanges and looked to have gone further ahead after 15 minutes when Ryan

Duckett finished off a good move by touching down under the post. However, the

referee saw fit to disallow the try for an allegedly forward pass spotted by

nobody else in the ground. Duckett looked deeply disappointed – as well he may;

that was obviously no way to treat the Chief Executive of the Bradford Bulls!

However, justice was done when Otley won the ensuing scrum against the head;

Newbury were caught offside and Depledge drilled the ball into touch. Otley won

the line-out cleanly and set up a dynamic rolling maul from which a pushover

try was awarded and credited to tight-head prop Colin Quigley. Depledge

converted this one and Otley stretched the lead to 12-0.

 

This sequence was more or less replicated

five minutes later when Otley won two successive penalties and from t he second

line out again pushed Newbury back with a powerful maul. Otley drove the ball

over the line, and again Quigley made the touchdown. Depledge converted and

Otley were well in front at 19-0.

 

In the 30th minute a clever kick

and chase left the Newbury defence in total disarray. Duckett pounced on the loose

ball, sprinted into a gap and found flanker Alex Ball with a good pass. Ball

took it cleanly, drove through and scored Otley’s fourth try – thus securing the

important bonus point. Depledge missed the conversion but Otley led 24-0.

 

Five minutes later Otley had a fortunate

let-off when the referee penalised them for offside just as a Newbury man was

about to glide over for a try. Newbury elected to take a scrum. Surprisingly,

Otley won it, cleared the ball and saved their line. Praise must go to Ben

Steel – not many hookers win two balls against the head in the modern game. A

few minutes later it was Otley’s turn to gain a penalty and Depledge took it

with a quick tap and burst through the bemused defence. He passed on to Kirby

who in turn passed to Joe Barker who went over for a well-deserved try.

Depledge missed the conversion, but Otley now held an unassailable lead of 29-0

with half-time looming.

 

Of course, it just wouldn’t be an Otley match

if the opposition weren’t let in for a try just on the interval! So it was

today, as the final moves of the half saw Newbury gain a fair reward for a

period of forward dominance by rolling over from a maul to reduce the deficit

to 29-7.

 

The first half had been very entertaining to

watch with fast open rugby built on hard forward pressure. It was first and

foremost a team effort, but special mention should go to Joe Barker. One is

never sure how seriously to take the claims of most pack members to hold in

utter disdain the players in the backs, nor how much scepticism to show to

their protestations that they hate having to play there. But Barker acquitted

himself very well in his strange surroundings and kept his three-quarters

supplied with consistently good ball.

 

Rugby is often described as “a game of two

halves” and so it was today. If the first half had been skilful, entertaining

and exciting, the second proved to be a relative non-event. Newbury both

tightened play up and slowed it down – to the effect of stopping Otley

attacking very often, but also with the effect of Newbury virtually

surrendering any serious hopes they may have harboured to get back in the game

and close the gap.

 

The second half consisted largely of a war of

attrition up front, punctuated by only three events of much note.

 

First, Otley scored another try – but only in

the 70th minute. Again, a penalty kick found touch, the line out was

won and t he ensuing maul rolled over the line, with the try again going to

Colin Quigley. Congratulations to Quigley on his hat trick – but collectors of

trivia should memorise his name as the answer to the quiz question “Who was the

only rugby player to ever score a hat trick of tries without running a single

yard with ball in hand?” The try was converted and Otley led 34-7.

 

With only a few minutes left substitute Tom

O’Donnell was the player arbitrally selected for the sin-bin as several Otley

defenders stood blatantly offside for the umpteenth time.

 

Newbury took advantage of the extra man to

score with the last move of the match and the game ended Otley 34 Newbury 14.

 

It was a good win in a vital match.

Cinderford lost at home to Cambridge, but secured a bonus point. Otley now have

two games left and stand two points ahead of Cinderford and only one point

behind Newbury. Their fate is in their own hands. Next Saturday they are at

home to Blaydon, a mid-table team who on their current form Otley can beat. Of

all the many attractions in our splendid area that day, few are likely to equal

the drama of this encounter as this very plucky Otley team fights for National

Division One survival. Roll up at 3.00 pm to cheer them on.