Disappointment for Otliensians

THE worst conditions of the season greeted the teams with a heavy pitch and strong westerly wind. Otliensians had to make two changes with scrum-half Peter Gillson unavailable Tim Swann came in to deputise and Neil Barlow not having recovered from a cut head was replaced by Simon Coates.

With the advantage of the wind in the first period Otliensians started promisingly with the pack winning some good possession from the second phase and they received a boost when after 10 minutes quick possession put winger Rob Wilks over in the corner but there was no conversion.

Continuing to dominate play was mostly confined to the Northallerton half and when the visitors were penalised for killing the ball David Smith increased the lead with a penalty goal.

With Northalllerton coming more into the game they launched a determined attack on Otliensians' line and were awarded a penalty five metres out which they tapped. Three more such penalties were awarded and eventually the referee gave a penalty try although it seemed that the attacker deliberatly ran into a defensive player to obtain the decision.

The simple conversion put the visitors within one point.

Although just before the break David Smith stretched the lead again with an angled penalty to give Otliensians an 11-7 lead at half-time.

The second-half was a different story with the Northallerton pack coming more and more into the game and achieving almost total domination of the line-out at No 2. Although the home side replaced Darren Hardie with Steve Wilson it was surpising that Wilson was not used at No 2 to try and disrupt the possession. Steve Richings replaced Andrew Cooper.

The visitors took the lead with a try by one of their centres which was converted and really the home side was under continuous pressure only making occasional forays into the Northallerton half.

They increased the lead with a further try and the conversion was again successful.

Although Otliensians made a spirited reply for a period the final irony was that the opposition stand-off chipped through and the kick bounced violently away from the cover allowing the stand-off to follow up to score. The conversion was also made.

It was a disappointment to Otliensians but on their second-half performance Northallerton had to be given credit for dominating.

Northallerton A 30 Otliensians A 9

From the kick-off the visitors were under pressure from a much bigger and stronger side. Due to some outstanding tackling by the whole side and outstanding line kicking by Ian Chaplin Otliensians managed to keep their line intact.

Eventiually the pressure told and Northallerton scored two unconverted tries but they were followed by an excellent Chaplin penalty and he quickly added two more to take Otliensians within one point.

Shortly before half-time Simon Dykes had to leave the field following a kick on the head and Northallerton added a converted try on the stroke of half-time.

Despite being a man short Otliensians had much more of the play in the second-half and Northallerton were only able to add a drop goal and a penalty until Fraser Ritson retired with a hand injury.

Being two men down was just too much of a handicap but Northallerton were not able to make their numerical superiority count until the dying minutes when they added a converted try.

The final score flattered the home side and did not reflect the outstanding effort, commitment and excellent team spirit of Otliensians.

Otliensians B 31 Northallerton B 17

This was a very even game closely contested particularly in the pack but the home side's extra flair in the loose carried them through.

The visitors opened the scoring with an unconverted try but Otliensians replied immediately winning possession on half-way and Phil Purnell, returning after a long injury lay-off, made a break to put Steve Allison over. Ian Lawrence converted.

Another break by Purnell gave Matthew Dykes half a chance and the flanker made no mistake.

Just before half-time Otliensians' pack set up a rolling maul and when it was driven over the line the try was awarded but no specific person laid claim to the try. Lawrence kicked the conversion making it 17-5.

After the break the visitors came back strongly scoring two tries, one converfted, to put them just two points in arrears. This only spurred the home side to greater efforts and they lengthened therir lead with an excellent individual try by Ian Lawrence who also added the conversion.

The scoring was completed by Matthew Dykes' second try converted by Lawrence to give them a satisfactory win.

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