FYLDE have proved a notoriously difficult nut for Otley to crack in league rugby.

For example, the Cross Greeners have lost all five contests at Lytham St Annes, while at LS21 the Lancastrians had won three out of five.

However, Otley levelled up the Cross Green ledger on Saturday, winning 28-27 to hand the National League Two North leaders only their second defeat of the season.

This was a proper contest between two good sides, with Otley skipper Adam Malthouse calling it “our best performance of the season”.

Otley trailed 12-8 at half-time, with an Elliot Morgan try and Joe Rowntree penalty being more than cancelled out by tries by Ben Gregory and Sam Stott and a conversion by Greg Smith.

But, given a head of steam by their dominant pack, the black and whites hit back with second-half tries by Charles Morgan, Dan Preston-Routledge and Sam Taylor, plus a conversion by Rowntree.

Fylde managed tries by Cole Potts and Oliver Parkinson, plus a penalty and conversion by Smith, but all that added up to was a losing bonus point as they lost the league leadership to Sedgley Park.

Otley, who have it in them to climb above Hull Ionians into third, also owed something to Taylor, who charged down Smith’s conversion attempt to Potts’ try, which, if it had gone over, would have given Fylde a one-point victory.

Home skipper Adam Malthouse said: “It was probably our best performance of the season, taking away the first 10 minutes when we started slowly.

“But as the game went on we grew into it, played in the right areas and our forward dominance, which we knew we had from the first scrum, won us the game.

“Your confidence just bounces up after that and I thought that our scrum, our set-piece, was good in general. We had a physical edge about us and were the better team.”

Malthouse added: “We are still a young team, we are still learning and there will be mistakes at times but I am more concerned with what we did right and we thoroughly deserved our win.

“Getting those tries early in the second half was the key, particularly Dan’s try, although we were disappointed to let them back in it with a soft try.

“Dan is a very handy player to have. Not only does he work hard in the front five but he also gives us an option to play in the back row, and when that space arrived you back him to score nine times out of ten.”

As for the rare achievement of charging down conversion attempts, which Otley have now pulled off three times this season, lock Malthouse said: “That epitomises the team that we have.

“We are just relentless in everything that we do. That could be our play, or it could be something to do with them. It (the charge down) is an opportunity to stop them scoring points and we will try everything to do that.”

Otley also survived a yellow card for replacement Clark Wells on the hour for a tip tackle, just a minute after coming on – a sin-binning that frustrated some home supporters.

Malthouse was more balanced, saying: “It is a difficult one but everyone knows the rules around the contact area – as soon as you lift someone horizontally at any angle, whether it be a dangerous tip or bringing someone down to the floor, you are going to give the referee only one option.

“If it had been the other way around, I would have expected a yellow card.”

Otley lost hooker Luke Cole to injury, and Malthouse said: “I think that he has torn his rotator cuff and it is not looking great. He came back on but that is just Luke, who would run through brick walls with no arms if he could.

“But Ryan Gibson came on and played his part and that is what we are all about.”

Otley conceded a first-minute penalty against flanker Sam Hodge for not rolling away, and a minute later they trailed 7-0 as fly half Smith put a delicate grubber kick through that hooker Gregory got on the end of with time to spare.

Smith’s conversion was successful but Rowntree got Otley on the board with a penalty in the 12th minute after a high tackle in a game that was well policed by 23-year-old George Ounsley.

Stott then ran onto a short pass at pace for Fylde’s second try three minutes later, but back came Otley.

A high tackle on Malthouse gave them field position and, instead of kicking for the posts, they kicked for touch, won the line-out and moved the ball from right to left for left winger Elliot Morgan to go over.

Rowntree’s conversion attempt just went the wrong side of the near upright but Otley’s pack, despite the odd line-out being lost on their own throw, were starting to make their dominance more visible.

They won a penalty seven minutes into the second half, resulting in a yellow card for Fylde centre Connor Wilkinson, and two minutes later centre Charles Morgan was over for a try.

Cole gave up the unequal struggle with his shoulder injury in the 53rd minute, but two minutes after that flanker Preston-Routledge ran though a large hole in the visitors’ defence, just having the pace to make the line.

Fylde were then shoved into touch on their right after a good spell of possession but Wells was then sin-binned, Smith’s penalty soon after for not releasing reducing the lead to 20-15.

It was getting tense but Otley kept their heads, moving an attack from left to right, full back Irvine popping up in the line to put right winger Taylor over in the 66th minute to give them a four-try bonus point.

Another high tackle, this time by Fylde, crucially gave Rowntree the chance to put Otley more than a score ahead, which he did by landing a penalty six minutes later.

Fylde managed a try by lock Parkinson right on time, which Smith converted, giving Fylde a losing bonus point, but there was not time to restart the match, with Otley therefore winning by a point.

As for the rest of the season, Malthouse said: “We are looking no further ahead than Huddersfield away and Preston away over the next two Saturdays.

“We are enjoying what we are doing, we are enjoying each other’s company on and off the field and we are a dedicated bunch and an honest bunch.

“Fylde and Sedgley Park are the benchmarks and the teams to beat, but there are a lot of good teams in this league.

“It just makes the win all the sweeter as Fylde have done it to us. They are experienced and well-drilled so I am delighted with the result and if we can keep a clean bill of health, we can get several more results.”