REPORT BY: NICK DOYLE

OTLEY went to Fylde looking for their first league win there, but again came home empty handed.

The effort put in by Otley was better than the win against Tynedale the previous week, just not reflected in the scoreline.

The Yorkshiremen kicked off towards the Woodlands clubhouse, but a penalty put them back in their own half. Fylde moved the ball across the pitch three times before Sam Carleton forced his way over in the corner after three minutes, with Greg Smith adding the conversion.

Four minutes later Otley reduced the deficit when Sam Taylor, having prevented a penalty finding touch and kicked forward, was fouled as he ran past the defender who had failed to gather the ball. Gavin Stead’s curling kick in the middle of Fylde’s half was successful. Shortly afterwards Otley ran the ball from their 22 to Fylde’s 10 metre where a high tackle gave the visitors the opportunity to further reduce the deficit, but the kick went wide.

For the next ten minutes, the game was played in the Otley half, the visitors being better able to handle the slippery ball than their hosts. Otley finally got out of their half, opting for a scrum after having been awarded a penalty based on previous encounters, but the subsequent attack was frustrated. An exchange of kicks gave Fylde a line-out just outside Otley’s 22, and a penalty put them into the corner. The maul was stopped, but prop Ben Gregory picked up the ball and forced his way through the Otley line on 28 minutes.

After a line-out just beyond Fylde’s 10 metre line, Eddie Crossland broke through the Fylde defence making it to their 22 before passing to George Bowen who was then tackled metres from the white line. Otley kept control of the ball, Ben Waddington having a lunge for the line before it was swung wide to a free Taylor out wide who dotted down just after the half hour. Stead’s conversion made the score 14-10.

Having restarted the game, Fylde responded to Otley’s clearance kick with a 50-22 kick landing ten metres from Otley’s line. This time their maul was successful, Gregory breaking away with a couple of teammates to touch-down on the line, Smith adding the extras. The first stoppage after the restart gave Otley a penalty from some 30 metres out, but the kick went wide.

As the half came to end, Fylde broke through on the left with Sam Carleton getting his second try as he rolled over the line. Smith’s successful kick brought the half-time whistle.

Otley got the first points of the second half when Joe Rowntree converted a penalty four minutes in, Fylde with a late tackle in front of the posts. However, two minutes later whilst Sam Stott’s 30 metre run was brought to a halt, Otley failed to roll away quickly enough and Smith added his own penalty.

When Fylde were caught offside on the half-way line, Crossland kicked to their 22 post where they got another penalty. Calling for a scrum, they called for a second after a Fylde prop went down. Moving to the ball from the scrum, Otley caught Fylde offside in front of the posts. After a series of scrums, Otley tried to breach Fylde’s line before returning to where the scrum had been – Fylde having been penalised. From the scrum, Otley moved the ball to both edges of the pitch before Taylor’s dummy pass gave him the space to cross the line just after the hour mark.

The restart saw Fylde getting a penalty that Smith converted. Otley were able to stop a maul close to their line – the ball squirting out. Fylde continued to pressurise the Otley line and whilst the visitors made it out of their 22 it wasn’t for long. With Fylde back in, Smith’s cross-field kick was caught by Jordan Dorrington mid-air landing to score in the corner. Smith added his fifth conversion with five minutes to go. Fylde should have got a sixth try, but having run from their half they dropped a pass with the unguarded try line beckoning in the final play of the game as the hosts claimed a 41-18 victory.

Otley have two home games in succession, against Sheffield and Huddersfield, both kick-off at 2:15pm.