Old Otliensians 64 Harrogate Pythons 14

A HOWLING gale greeted the sides at Chaffers Field as Otliensians entertained local rivals Harrogate Pythons in this Yorkshire Three derby.

Otliensians played into wind and with less than two minutes gone they won a scrum against the head which led to number eight Rob Arbuckle and scrum half Rob Lofthouse creating the chance for Will Cooper to score near the posts. The conversion gave the home side a 7-0 lead.

The confident start was maintained and when a third scrum was won against the head, Otliensians extended their lead with a try from full back Alex Murphy.

Facing a 12-point deficit, Pythons tried vainly to get a foothold in the game but midway through the half their stand-off chipped the ball straight in to the hands of the oncoming Olly Eaves.

He gratefully accepted the chance for an easy run-in to score under the posts as the lead was extended to 19-0.

The try of the match came on the half hour. The home side won a scrum inside their own 22 and moved the ball quickly to wingman Connor Bateman who raced 70 metres to outpace the cover defence and score wide out.

From the resulting kick-off, the visitors pressurised the Otliensians line and were rewarded with an interception try under the posts. The extras reduced the deficit to 24-7 to give Harrogate a glimmer of hope. Otliensians continued to dominate the half and further converted tries from Luke Cowdell and Connor Bateman gave Ensians a commanding 38-7 half-time lead.

The second half started in the same manner as the first. From a scrum position Otliensians ran the ball through the phases and created an opportunity for Bateman to score his hat-trick.

To their credit, Harrogate did not give up and following a sustained period of pressure they scored a second converted try to reduce the scoreline to 43-14.

However, the remainder of the match belonged to the hosts and three additional tries from the captain Sam Featherstone, fly-half Will Cooper and a fourth try for winger Bateman reflected the home side's dominance. Bateman converted all three of these tries to reach a personal tally of 34 points in a 64-14 win.

Despite the conditions, Otliensians produced a controlled performance scoring ten tries against a capable Harrogate team.

The bonus point victory maintained second place in the table, and closed the gap on Northallerton to three points.