Otley vs Blackheath 16th January 2010

Blackheath 32 Otley 5

It wasn't so long ago that an Otley team facing a team further up the table would be praying for rain, hoping for a game dominated by one of the biggest and strongest packs in the first division.

The first game of the season since snow brought everything in the country - including ruby union - to a standstill for almost two weeks came on a day of heavy rain down in south London and yet it seems that rain is no longer the certain advantage it was in the middle of the noughties. Only five minutes into the match Otley were already struggling to keep the Club from a pushover try, and though this time they succeeded Blackheath's #10 Paul Humphries kicked from under the posts for three easy points and an early lead.

Five minutes later Blackheath finally succeeded in driving over the line which with the kick brought the scoreline to ten nil, and a second unconverted try a few minutes later made for a 15-0 lead. By this point in the first half it was obvious that the Blackheath forwards could push the Otley pack around the pitch, and Otley began to find themselves in difficulty in the scrum. A wonderful bit of footwork from the Club's #11 Tyson Lewis a few minutes before half time, plus another easy kick from under the posts, put the scoreline at 22-0 at the end of the first half.

Five minutes into the second half Blackheath forwards drove over the Otley line again, the pile of red and black shirts on the ball interpreted with cheerful arbitrariness by the announcer as the second try of the match for #7 Dave Allen. Otley then managed to hang on for almost half an hour before ten minutes from the end a series of handling errors by both sides ended with the Blackheath #9 Luke Baldwin touching down in the far left corner.

Otley pulled back an unconverted try a few minutes from the end while Blackheath were down to 13 men, but the final move of the game saw Blackheath once more push Otley over the line for another try in the far corner of the pitch and a final score 32-5.