SHEFFIELD Tigers is very much an itch that Peter Clegg wants to scratch.

The National League Two North rivals meet on Saturday in a Yorkshire Cup semi-final at Dore Moor (2.00), and Otley’s director of rugby Clegg can’t help thinking about their recent league meeting at Cross Green.

Tigers, who are in the thick of a relegation battle, won 34-33 in late March, and Clegg said: “We scored five tries and they scored three and won it with two penalties in the last five minutes.

“We won 17-13 at their place last November, but the home defeat was a bit of a downer.

“You should never lose a game when you score five tries, but we are taking a strong side over there – as strong as we can.

“We have Jack Mackie and Mike Coady available in the centres, although we have a couple of injury concerns elsewhere, and we are looking forward to it.”

While Otley need a point from their final two league matches to be safe, Tigers, who are ten points worse off and in a relegation place, will probably need two wins.

Clegg said of Otley’s league position: “It is ridiculous that we are in this situation considering the number of times that we have scored three times in matches and then not scored another to get a bonus point.”

Wharfedale may have needed a last-gasp Tom Barrett penalty to secure the losing bonus point that finally made them safe at Chester last Saturday.

But the Dalesmen’s head coach James Doherty reflected on the 22-15 defeat by saying: “I know it sounds daft but we were the better team.”

The Green Machine had tries by full back Harry Bullough (forward pass) and centre Jamie Guy (knock-on) disallowed.

Doherty added: “Two of the tries that we let in were from set-pieces, which we haven’t really conceded all season.

“They were due to miscommunication, and we had a chat in the dressing room afterwards about not wanting to be in this situation next season. We want to be challenging in the top half.”