Saracens start New Year in fine style

Otley Saracens started the New Year in fine style with a good win over Castleford First XV who are riding high in Yorkshire Division One.

The pack played well with Richard Moss, Scott Poole and Steve Henry a solid front row and Richard Smith securing some good line-out ball.

The young half-back pair of Chris Quinn and Ben Greaves combined well but the visitors showed why they are having a such a good season with some good defensive work.

Saracens eventually took the lead when space was created for Richard Leighton and he squeezed in at the corner.

Chris Quinn missed the conversion but he made no mistake shortly after with a penalty. Saracens kept up the pressure but Castleford stuck to their task before breaking out to take play to the other end and score wide out to make it 8-5 at half-time.

This did not do justice for all the Saracens pressure.

Saracens stepped up a gear on the re-start with the powerful Simon Rhodes moving into the centre and this began to pay off as he made inroads down the middle of the park.

Colt Chris Davidson, who had moved to the wing, benefited when he received quick ball to race over.

This was followed by good play down the other flank, where Richard Leighton used his pace to beat the cover to the corner for his second try.

Skipper Andy Hargreaves was giving a good lead to the rest of his pack and in their next attack they took play deep into the Castleford half where Ian Judson took a short ball to power over and Chris Quinn added the conversion.

The visitors kept going and they scored a second try in the closing stages to reward their contribution to an excellent game which entertained a large crowd on a chilly afternoon.

This was a good team effort and Tongans fly-half Dominic Kershaw, who came in at the last minute, had a sound game at full-back.

Tongans 31

West Leeds Seconds 5

Tongans again suffered when Halifax cried off at lunchtime but good work by fixture secretary Ronnie Franks saw West Leeds, who had also had a last minute cancellation, agree to come to Otley with a delayed kick-off.

Tongans had first use of the strong wind and were soon on the attack with forwards and backs combining well.

A switch move saw Adrian Midgeley score near the posts and then fly-half Luke Kendall looped round to race over, the latter converting both tries.

Keeping up the pressure Otley won a scrum in the visitor's 22 and colt Robert Smith picked up and fed Steve Kershaw who crossed wide out.

Just on half-time a drive to the line saw Andrew Fleming roll out of the maul to go over, Luke Kendall's conversion making it 26-0.

Turning to face the strong wind Tongans knew they would have to work hard but the pack, which included three colts, rose to the occasion and held out for 20 minutes before West Leeds drove over in the corner.

The visitors were camped on the Tongans' line and despite of several close shaves the defence held before breaking out to score a spectacular try.

Otley won a loose ball on their 22 and Robert Smith made ground before linking with his backs and full-back Harold Merredew came up on the outside to race over in the corner.

The young front row of Chris Burns, David Jones and Andrew Fleming held their own in the set pieces and flanker Tim Appleton had a powerful game in the lose.

Colt Steve Kershaw varied his game well at scrum-half and the experienced centre pairing of Adrian Midgeley and Andy Edson worked well.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.