Yorkshire 36

Warwickshire 21

Otley winger Will Darby had an excellent game for Yorkshire when they opened their County Championship campaign at Harrogate's Claro Road on Saturday.

He was one of six Otley players who saw county action in a side that showed plenty of ambition and pride in wearing the county jersey.

The competition may have been devalued somewhat but you can't take away from these lads the fact that they are representing their county.

Yorkshire with just one training session behind them showed unbelievable cohesion in their forwards while their backs were full of invention and understanding.

Yorkshire took the lead in the second minute with the first of four penalties from Doncaster fly-half Rob Liley.

Yorkshire's first try was a breathtaking effort from Otley scrum-half Andy Brown and involved just about everyone in the team with Harrogate's attacking full-back Ed Smithies providing the final pass.

Warwickshire took advantage of some slack defending to pull a try back through their prop James Hadfield but Yorkshire extended their lead before the break with tries from Harrogate's blind side flanker Mike Worden and Wakefield No 8 Glen Wilson.

A comeback which started with a try from winger Gary Marshall was short-lived as will 0'the wisp Darby finished off a classy move that had involved his Cross Green team-mates Brown and Mark Kirkby.

Yorkshire produced some Barbarian style rugby and deserved more points but Warwickshire defended well and gained a consolation late try from replacement James Cathcart.

Yorkshire looked favourites for the title on this performance and their next step towards that goal comes on Saturday at Otley's Cross Green ground (3 pm) when they take on Lancashire in the quarter-finals.

Hooker Ronnie Kelley and fellow forward Paul Williams were the other Otley players to start the game while Mark Luffman came on as a 69th minute replacement for John Lawn.

Tongans in final

Otley Tongans 20

Keighley A 16

THIS was a repeat of last season's Sulzer Cup semi-final which Keighley won at Utley and Tongans, missing leading points scorer Will Foster and leading try scorer Tim Westlake-Bryant, knew they were up against it. Tony Stott moved to fly-half and veteran Adrian Midgeley came into the centre with Kris Keinhorst on the wing.

Keighley dominated the first quarter and were 8-0 up from a penalty and an unconverted try. Tongans started to come more into the game and Chris Stott exchanged penalties with the Keighley kicker before Mike Gillson forced his way over after strong forward pressure.

Keighley hit back and squeezed in at the corner, the referee awarding the try after consulting the linesman, to make it 8-16 at half-time.

Tongans brought on fresh legs early in the second-half and started to stretch the visitors' defence and mid-way through the half Adrian Keeler cut through to cross near the posts. Chris Stott added the conversion to make it 15-16.

Both sides were giving total commitment and Chris Stott was just wide with a penalty before the latter player, who had played well as an emergency scrum-half, made a break from the base and beat the cover to score.

The final minutes had both sets of supporters on the edge of their seats but Tongans held on. They were due to meet Ilkley in the final at Stacks Field on Wednesday.