Wetherby 36 Old Otliensians 10

OTLIENSIANS knew they were facing a tough task when they took the field against the unbeaten leaders who were chasing a 50th straight win.

The home side went ahead after just three minutes when a good break led to a converted try.

Wetherby stretched their lead to 10-0 when they kicked a penalty goal, but ‘Ensians were having a good share of the play.

Strong carries from back rows Sam Featherstone and Nathan Rogers and lock Lee O’Donnell kept their side in the hunt, while wingers Luke Cowdell and Josh Howarth looked lively.

‘Ensians were unable to turn opportunities into points whereas Wetherby made the most of their chances. They turned the ball over and caught the visitors defence off guard for a second try.

Wetherby were attacking hard from all over the field and ‘Ensians were having to defend their hearts out.

Rogers, Featherstone and Zak Stead were making tackles all over the field while lock Ali Campbell and prop Greg Jones were disrupting the Wetherby ball and winning turnovers at the breakdown.

After 32 minutes the ‘Ensians defence was breached again with another converted try.

‘Ensians started to concede a string of penalties as they tried to halt the stream of Wetherby attacks and this led to them collecting a yellow card.

Wetherby saw their chance and called for a scrum when they were awarded another penalty. They used their superior numbers to score a pushover try.

‘Ensians started the second half with 14 men, but once they were back to full strength they started to exert pressure.

A break initially by Cowdell, which was carried on by Howarth, was enough to stretch the home defence and Cooper showed good footwork and great strength to leave the home defence flapping as he went in to score.

Wetherby checked the ‘Ensians revival when they scored a second pushover try which they also converted.

The rest of the half mainly belonged to Ensians. Scrum Half Rob Lofthouse was moving the ball well as well as sniping round the breakdown.

Keinhorst showed great vision and skill in the 70th minute to put a perfect cross field kick straight into the hands of Cowdell who scored out wide.

Wetherby finally received a yellow card. However they stepped up their defence to keep the visitors out as they pressed late in the game.