Bramley Phoenix 22 Old Otliensians 12

by Arthur Bartle

OTLIENSIANS raced into a 12-0 lead in the first ten minutes but were unable to hold on as they suffered a Yorkshire Three defeat on a cold a windy afternoon.

The start could not have been better. Otliensians opted to kick off with a grubber which was knocked on by Bramley who then gave away a penalty..

The ball was kicked into the home 22 where good line-out ball was won to set up the rolling maul which produced a try for Ali Campbell.

Kristian Keinhorst narrowly failed with the conversion but was able to add the extra minutes later when top try scorer Declan Jackson showed his speed to win a race to a touchdown.

Bramley came back strongly and soon had five points on the board, the extra two being denied by an upright.

The visitors missed a penalty opportunity before Bramley broke away into open space and scored wide out. A difficult conversion was missed so Otliensians led 12-10.

A heel against the head by Jim Dyson came to nothing when a kick ahead went directly into touch.

A Bramley penalty kick for touch actually lost ground against the wind, but they won the line-out and again found space. Good passing was rewarded with an unconverted try as they went ahead 15-12.

Otliensians began to gain some possession and a ruck turnover gave Olly Eaves the chance to kick the ball into the danger area, but scrappy and mistake –ridden play prevented a score.

Skipper Nathan Rogers had taken a knock and he was replaced by Zak Stead after the break.

Bramley used the wind advantage but, somewhat against the run of play, the visitors pinned the home side in the 22 and exerted intense pressure.

The pick and drive was effective, with players supporting each other and retaining possession, but there was no way through and eventually the ball was spun wide.

A handling error allowed Bramley to hack the ball into Otliensians half. It was now Bramley’s turn to dominate and after penalties to the visitors failed to get them out of trouble, a scrum on the line saw them pushed off the ball.

A penalty missed touch and Bramley ran the ball back. Another penalty failed to relieve the siege, a Bramley lineout and a driving maul proved too difficult to withstand and a try resulted.