Otliensians hammer Ilkley

Ilkley 0

IN contrast to the previous week conditions were almost ideal for this derby game and with Otliensians looking for points to climb the table a keen encounter was forecast.

Otliensians made a late change with Tim Swann again deputising at scrum-half for Peter Gillson.

Having had good training sessions during the week Otliensians started in the more determined fashion and their forwards put the opposition under pressure.

They received a boost after 10 minutes when Neil Hendry scored an excellent individual try.

He spotted a gap and raced for the post and Neil Barlow converted.

Otliensians' pack dominated and they were able to keep play almost entirely confined to the Ilkley half.

The lead was extended with an excellent try engineered by the backs, the ball passing to winger Andrew Thorpe who cut inside and served Neil Barlow who had overlapped.

He stepped out of a couople of half tackles to score.

An excellent kick by the skipper added the extra points.

With the line-outs going almost entirely with the throw Otliensians got the cleaner possession from Richard Smith and Darren Hardie. There was plenty of good, competitive open play and Otliensians increased the lead with a try by Peter Tempest.

Although there was no conversion a Barlow penalty gave them a 22-0 lead at the break.

This was very satisfactory having played into the wind.

The second-half pattern was much the same with Otliensians' pack almost completely dominant.

So much so that Richard Paley, depuity hooker, took four strikes against the head.

In an attack Ilkley were penalised 10 metres out and a slick penalty move put Andy Cooper over but there was no conversion.

Shortly after Cooper was replaced by Simon Dykes and Peter Bonner replaced Andy Rayner.

This made no difference to the fluency of Otliensians performance and the lead was increased with an excellent try by hard working full-back David Smith. Again there was no conversion.

With Otliensians in almost total command it was only left to two magical tries by winger Thorpe - one when he was put away on the half-way line and he outwitted three defenders on the way to touch down and the other a jinking effort from 30 metres out.

Both were converted by Barlow to complete the scoring and a game which had been a revelation from Otliensians' point of view - their best performance of the season.

Ilkley A 3

Otliensians A 7

As the score would suggest this was a closely contested game throughout with the packs fairly evenly matched and Otliensians having a little more power in the backs.

However this was not sufficient to penetrate a sound Ilkley defence.

The game went to half-time 0-0 and a similar pattern followed in the second-half.

Otliensians had territorial advantage in this half although Ilkley appeared dangerous on the break but were stopped by some solid tack

ling by Andy Hayward in the centre.

When Ilkley took the lead with a penalty goal it appeared it might just be enough but Otliensians' forwards rallied again with Roger Whitworth, Steve Montague and Marcus Drake all putting in a good contribution.

They were however pushed back to their own line but winning quick possession skipper Ian Chaplin launched the backs.

Slick handling gave winger Richard Brook half a chance and he sped round his opponent and ran threequarters of the pitch to score.

Chaplin's conversion came just before the final whistle. to herald another good performance by Otliensians who stuck to their task well throughout.

Otliensians. 7

Ilkley B 41

The opening quarter of the game saw the home side enjoy the edge but they offered only token resistence with an uncharacteristic lack lustre performance.

However, it was the visitors who went ahead against the run of play through Daniel Webster. His try was converted by full-back Paul Witherington.

Just before half-time winger Ben Rowlands added another try. Otliensians showed some dominance in the set pieces but were unable to convert this into points whereas Ilkley made no mistake in seizing their chances.

Throughout the second-half Ilkley dominated and further tries came from Simon Ince, who completed a hat-trick, Tim Ross and Witherington.

The home side responded with a try by No 8 Dan Ridgeway converted by Neil Moore.

Ilkley however had the final say when prop Vinnie Thornton crashed through the defence to put his name on the scoresheet.

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