Otley 10, Wakefield 14

THIS game was a battle for tenth spot in Division One as both teams had made sure of their survival. Although losing, Otley's bonus point kept them ahead by virtue of a better points difference but all that went down the plug-hole when Wakefield took a bonus point when losing to Exeter at College Grove on Easter Monday.

They now face Orrell while Otley travel to Plymouth on Saturday and it looks highly unlikely that there will be much alteration to the league standings.

A good crowd came to Cross Green to see this local confrontation with the home supporters looking to see a repeat of the performance of the previous week but they were doomed to disappointment. Whether it was end of season blues, over-confidence or failure to follow the game plan it was apparent that coach Peter Clegg was less than happy with the result.

For so much of the game Otley appeared to be the better side but they were obsessed with trying to bullock their way through the middle when their wing men had demonstrated their scoring ability so ably against Moseley the previous week.

Their strategy should still have brought success for they created many opportunities. The pack spent long sessions on the visitors' line but were unable to break a well organised defence whilst in comparison Wakefield drove over on one of the very few occasions they got near enough.

The problem was they either dropped the ball or were turned over whenever they were looking dangerous. They paid the penalty of not playing to the referee when, on 14 minutes, they stood waiting for the whistle when scrum-half Dominic Castle knocked on when taking a quick tap penalty. He was allowed to run through, draw Ian Shuttleworth and give ex-Otley No 6 Jon Skurr an easy run in, Casey Mee converting.

Being against the run of play this did not appear disastrous and it was borne out when Phil Greaves cut through only to see his perfect pass put down and within minutes Mark Kirkby was bundled into touch in the corner and a score looked imminent as Otley kept up the pressure.

It duly came when Simon Binns, who was protecting a dodgy leg and letting Greaves do all the kicking from hand, happily took a close in penalty with success and just before the break, with the referee playing advantage Andy Brown judged perfectly a high chip over a flat defence for Greaves to run onto to obtain a 10-7 half-time lead.

The visitors continued to thwart the forwards' attempts to drive over and showed how it should be done when Mee set up the line-out with a penalty kick into the corner, Otley keeping them out but conceding two further penalties and at the third time of asking prop Derek Jelly was driven over, Mee landing a fine conversion into the wind.

There were still 34 minutes remaining but Otley could not break a solid defence and the game petered out, finishing almost in silence.

John Finch