Harrogate Pythons 0 Old Otliensians 10

WITH no pitch available at Claro Road, the match was transferred to a nearby school where the pitch was seriously boggy and made the going tough.

Fortunately, the visitors managed to adapt to the conditions better than their hosts and established a narrow 3-0 lead at the break despite playing up the slope.

In the second half they made victory safe when they created a chance for flying winger Declan Jackson to score under the posts and the conversion gave them a 10-0 lead which they maintained until full time.

The tone for a determined Otliensians performance was set in the early minutes when their forwards took on the heavier home pack with some good pick and drives before moving the ball wide through half backs Rob Lofthouse and Ollie Eaves.

The home side struggled to cope with this enterprising play and Kristian Keinhorst converted an early penalty to establish a 3-0 lead.

The front row of Greg Jones, Jim Dyson and Josh Dyson held their own against much heavier opponents and they continued to dominate when the injured Jones was replaced by Tom Twist after 15 minutes.

Considering the conditions, the visitors' back line did well with centres Luke Freer and Zak Stead handling the slippery ball well.

Connor Bateman came on to replace injured winger Will Prest, but the visitors continued to pressure the hosts in attack, harassing them in defence and regularly turning ball over.

In a rare attack, Pythons missed a penalty and then winger Jackson just failed to reach the ball when Keinhorst kicked through to the corner.

On the occasions when Harrogate managed to get their backs moving they were confronted by strong tackling from the visitors’ back row of Ollie Cooper, Greg Manning and Toby Barltrop.

In the line-outs, lock Ali Campbell, flanker Ollie Cooper and No.8 Greg Manning produced quality ball to get their backs moving over the gain line.

After the break, Pythons lifted their game and used their pack to settle in the visitors 22 where they battered away at the line for ten minutes.

The visitors' defence was superb with big forwards being flattened with hard, low tackles. A penalty against the home side allowed play to move downfield where a slick pass to winger Jackson allowed him to sprint down the narrow side and outpace the cover to score a trademark try under the posts. The conversion by Keinhorst made it 10-0 after 55 minutes.

The home side then roused themselves and exerted pressure through their big pack. The referee awarded a series of penalties against the visitors and when Pythons confidently opted for scrums near the line, the lighter Otliensians pack made life difficult for them. If the ball did move to their backs, the visiting back row and centres Zak Stead and Luke Freer swarmed all over them, turning ball over.

A threatening kick and chase from Jackson was ruled in touch by the referee. It didn't prove to be a crucial decision as Otliensians held on for the win.