Baildon 10 Old Otliensians 16

CATCHING up with postponed matches due to bad weather resulted in ‘Ensians taking on local rivals Baildon in this re-arranged evening match under floodlights.

With the home side lying second from bottom and battling to avoid relegation, the visitors knew a tough encounter was on the cards.

On a greasy surface in swirling fog this turned out to be the case as the hosts fought back in the final minutes to earn a losing bonus point.

With five regulars missing due to injury and unavailability, the visitors started off brightly with half backs Rob Lofthouse and Will Cooper moving the ball wide.

Cooper converted a penalty after minutes only to see Baildon level the scores five minutes later.

Otliensians regained the lead when full back Connor Bateman came into the line to score a fine try in the corner.

The home pack had a solid line-out and their driving and offloading frequently made good ground, but in the scrums the visiting front row of Toby Keep, John Offer and Michael Groves had a slight edge. Despite the conditions, the visiting backs were moving the ball well and a half break by centre Ollie Eaves set up a second try for Bateman to stretch the lead to 13-3.

In the second half the visitors lost experienced scrum half Lofthouse through injury and fly half Kristian Keinhorst stepped into the unfamiliar role.

With other changes in the pack and playing up the slope, ‘Ensians lost some of their fluidity and they had to defend numerous threats.

Cooper stretched the lead to 16-3 with another successful penalty after 50 minutes.

Both sides continued to attack with the visitors making good use of clean line-out ball from skipper Sam Featherstone.

Baildon were beginning to disrupt the visitors’ scrum and with the clock ticking, the home pack put in a series of strong drives to score a well-worked try halfway out.