Old Otliensians 5 Leeds Medics & Dentists 12

THIS wasn't what the doctor ordered as Otliensians were defeated by their lively young opponents on a bitterly cold afternoon.

The hosts had the benefit of a gentle breeze in the first half and quickly worked their way into the visitors’ 22 where half backs Rob Lofthouse and Ollie Eaves got their backs going forward to allow centre Luke Cowdell to weave his way towards the line.

From the subsequent rucks several players went close, but eventually the Medics cleared the danger and used their effective off-loading game to take play into the home 22.

Strong defence from the back row of Sam Featherstone, Lee O’Donnell and Alex Albrecht kept the opposition at bay.

The home front row of Greg Jones, Jim Dyson and Michael Groves struggled to get tidy ball, making life difficult for their half backs, but nevertheless good support play pinned the visitors in their 22. Quick ball allowed winger Josh Howarth to make good ground on the right and flanker Albrecht was on hand to take the pass and go over wide out.

A 5-0 half-time lead looked insufficient and so it proved. In the second half the visitors stepped up their game with their strong running backs gaining food support from the forwards.

The home defence worked hard with replacement prop Rob Arbuckle and lock Ali Fothergill supporting the home back row in keeping the Medics out.

Otliensians defended desperately and gave away several penalties in quick succession which eventually allowed the visitors to drive over to level the scores after 54 minutes.

There was a setback for Otliensians when stand-in lock Nick Keinhorst had to go off with a shoulder injury with John Offer taking over.

The re-shuffled pack worked hard, but the scrum was not stable and the Medics’ back row took advantage to harassing the home backs.

Despite the efforts of Sam Featherstone in the line-out, the Medics had a plentiful supply of ball from the scrums which enable them to stretch the home defence with both their forwards and backs running strongly.

Good driving play from Rob Arbuckle, Greg Jones, Lee O’Donnell and Featherstone did provide some respite, but a turnover or dropped pass allowed the visitors to belt the ball down the field and clear the danger.

The match-winning score came after 71 minutes. One of the Medics centres broke through and evaded three tackles to go over near the posts. The conversion stretched their lead to 12-5.

The home side were far from finished and good picking and driving took play towards the visitors’ 22, but the promising progress came to an end with a penalty for not releasing.

Pressure was again on the hosts, but a strike against the head saw scrum half Rob Lofthouse streak away from his own line to set up a promising move with support on the left which was halted just as the final whistle sounded.