Otley v. Manchester, 23rd January 2010

By pat_mccauley

Sunday, January 24, 2010, 11:58

Otley 87 - Manchester 3

Cross green 2

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After the winter freeze had caused the postponement of several matches everyone was looking forward to a return to rugby at Cross Green on Saturday. Starved of rugby for a while, there was a rumour that some people had threatened to pay a visit to Headingley!

Saturday brought the visit of Manchester, a club that has fallen on very hard times. Financial problems led to an exodus of most of last year’s first team squad and the young and inexperienced players brought in to replace them have been overwhelmed and outclassed by the opposition at this level – losing all of their 17 league matches and conceding over 1,500 points in the process.

Mismatches of this magnitude should have no part to play in rugby union. A mismatch in rugby is not like one in football, where the lesser team merely runs the risk of getting hammered about 7-0 and being made to look rather foolish: the sheer physicality of rugby means that it’s more like a mismatch in boxing, where the weaker participant is in grave danger of serious injury.

This unhappy situation would never have needed to come about if the RFU allowed clubs in Manchester’s position to apply to descend to a lower division where they could compete realistically and, above all, safely. When Halifax had the good sense to make such a request they were told it was all or nothing – they had to stay where they were or go down to the very bottom tier of Yorkshire Division 6. Thus, thanks to the RFU, a club once prominent on the Yorkshire scene are consigned to play recreational “course rugby.” Manchester’s players, by contrast, are condemned to life-and-limb risking demoralisation every week. Neither malady is likely to overly concern the RFU, who are blatantly unconcerned about the state of club rugby below the muscle-bound negativity of the Premiership.

Nevertheless, it was looking as though Manchester may have turned the corner a little. Last week they gave Wharfedale a decent game and only lost by about 20 points. An influx of loan players from Sale looked to have wrought serious improvements. However, there were a lot of changes for the team that took the field at Cross Green. Manchester supporters confirmed that this had nothing to do with the Sale connection – it was merely a matter of injuries and unavailability.

After the patched up team and disappointing defeat at Blackheath last week, Otley were back to near full-strength. From the kick off Otley dominated with a lively cocktail of rucks, mauls, drives and passing movements. Manchester tried to stem the tide by standing blatantly offside, but the referee spotted the infringements and the penalties pinned them back even further. Otley took the lead in the 7th minute when stand-off Chris Georgiou gathered a crisp pass from a ruck in the Manchester 22 metre area and easily side-stepped his way through. After that it was one-way traffic throughout the match as Otley scored 13 tries. Ben Hough kicked superbly, converting 11 of them. For the record, Otley’s tries were scored by Hough, Kirby, Georgiou, Denman, Barker, Walker and Stedman. One was a pushover try, but the others all came from creative and free flowing passing movement. If any particular try stood out it was the one scored by loose-head Prop Gareth Denman , who took a pass cleanly from about 20 yards out, burst through at speed, evaded three opponents and thus broke all known rules of the front-row union!

Being under virtually no pressure throughout, Otley made far fewer errors than usual, although they were pulled back for forward passes on four occasions. We must hope that this romp has enhanced their self-confidence. The run out was superficially entertaining for the fans, but this isn’t what rugby ought to be about. A more serious hope is that Manchester recover their former standing in the game and, above all, that their players go through the season without any serious injuries.

The win puts Otley out of the relegation zone. The next two matches are both against fellow strugglers – away to Sedgley Park and at home to Cinderford. These matches will be crucial, with the Cinderford encounter most certainly qualifying for the “must win” label.

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