REPORT BY: NICK DOYLE

OTLEY’S sluggish start to the season continued on Saturday, as visitors Billingham went home with a 12-10 victory.

Defeat means that the hosts have only one win from their opening five National League 2 North fixtures.

Having kicked off the contest, Otley started brightly with Clark Wells streaking down the left-hand flank but then they lost possession. They kept the territorial advantage with good tackling. After five minutes their persistence paid off, getting a penalty just inside Billingham’s 10 metre line although the kick went wide. Having regathered the 22 drop-out, a sequence of nineteen passes saw Otley edging forward with Rory Gaffney going over under the posts and Eddie Crossland adding the conversion.

Billingham had a visit into Otley’s half after a penalty kick, although the impetus was lost when they knocked on ten metres out. Another knock-on by them took play into their half and they gave away a penalty after a high tackle on their 10-metre line. Play continued with Otley making it into the opposition 22 until a loose pass saw the ball go into touch.

Returning for the penalty, Otley went for the scoreboard corner but infringed at the line-out. They got the ball back after Billingham kicked to clear, and in the subsequent attack the visitors were caught offside on their 22. Crossland added the three points on 24 minutes.

Both sides were infringing and giving away penalties, and just after the half hour Otley’s offence at a scrum on their 22 enabled Sam Heron to get Billingham on the scoreboard. A sliced-kick gave Billingham a line-out just outside Otley’s 22 and as they moved along the line a hand in the ruck gave Billingham another chance to reduce the deficit which Heron delivering the points. His kick brought the half to an end.

Having absorbed Billingham for a while, Wells’s run down the right-hand flank ended when he was tackled into touch. Otley continued to pressurise but lost the ball when it was knocked on in the pass, and another attack faltered when they lost possession after a line-out. Ten minutes in Billingham finally made it out of their half, Otley straying offside just outside their 22, Heron then reducing the deficit to just one point.

For the next ten minutes the bulk of the play was in the Otley half, Heron’s 50:22 kick nearly made it until Ben Dinsdale kept it in play. Having secured possession at the ruck, after the ball came out Otley were penalised for crossing. Joe Roxby’s kick from Otley’s 22 gave Billingham the lead for the first time.

With a quarter of an hour still to play, most of the play remained between the two 22s. Otley did get within 15 metres of the opposition touchline with a scrum but later gave away a penalty, and the game ended with Otley conceding another penalty on Billingham’s 22 who kicked the ball off the pitch.