Harrogate Pythons 0 Old Otliensians 10

OTLIENSIANS love to play fast and open rugby so the last thing they wanted to see was a pitch that resembled a mudbath.

Despite the testing conditions, Otliensians started brightly but they were repelled by a solid home defence.

The hosts gradually came more into the picture and good driving play by their big forwards and strong running by their backs, gave them momentum.

Their progress was halted when winger Nick Keinhorst intercepted a pass and set off for the line. The Pythons’ cover was quick to respond and, with conditions not helping, the chance came to an end in the home 22.

Facing a bigger and heavier pack in the scrums, the visitors were unable to get decent footholds and struggled to get clean ball, with the hosts pushing them back on occasions. They did manage to secure their own line-out through the work of Sam Featherstone and Ali Campbell.

Otliensians suffered a blow when lively flanker Joe Armitage had to leave the field after a heavy knock to be replaced by Rob Arbuckle.

The visitors came back with some good driving and offloading through Paddy Phipps and Sam Featherstone with good support from locks Matt Taylor and Ali Campbell. The home side’s defence was solid and half time arrived with neither side managing a score.

With a slight slope in their favour the home side kicked off into the muddy part of the field and used their heavier forwards to pick and drive their way into the visitors’ 22.

Penalties were conceded as the visitors produced a sound display in defence and although Pythons got within a few yards of the line, strong low tackles kept them at bay.

After being under pressure for the first 15 minutes, the visitors gradually worked their way up to the less muddy part of the field.

Rob Arbuckle was bouncing defenders off and, along with props Toby Keep and Josh Dyson, the visitors made the best of the firmer conditions to make progress into the home half.

The hosts infringed outside their 22 and centre Luke Cowdell converted the awkward kick to give his side a 3-0 lead.

With assistance from the firmer surface, the visitors were at last able to get their back line moving and a sweeping move along the right flank put winger Ali Booth away.

As the cover came across he chipped ahead and just managed to beat a defender to the touchdown in the corner. Cowdell added the extras with a fine conversion to stretch the lead to 10-0.

Pythons made a spirited comeback through sound handling and good driving, but the ‘Ensians’ defence was up to the task as they stifled any threatening moves.

For their part, the visitors moved the ball well but further scoring opportunities were few. There was a setback when centre Ollie Eaves received a back injury with Nick Hesketh coming on as replacement and Rob Lofthouse taking over the scrum half berth. The remainder of the match was played out with neither side managing to create chances.

This Saturday ‘Ensians are at home to Ramsey from the Isle of Man in the quarter-final of the RFU National Vase competition. To help Ramsey with their travel arrangements, the kick off will be at 1 pm.