Baildon "superb for 75 minutes" in thrilling win over Ossett

In a battle between clubs placed fifth (Baildon) and fourth in the table, Baildon had established a 33-14 advantage.

However, in the final throes of the match, the hosts conceded two converted tries, which gifted Ossett two bonus points.

But Baildon still won 33-28 and they leapfrogged their opponents to go fourth in the table behind Dinnington, Yarnbury and Ripon.

Currently, only 10 points separate Ripon in third from Bradford & Bingley in eighth in a congested mid-table.

Baildon’s director of rugby Duxbury said: “I am fairly proud of what we did as for 75 minutes.

“We played how we have trained to play all year, and it was probably our best 75 minutes of the season so far.

“We weren’t too flashy in attack, we played it direct and simple and worked hard for each other, but then a couple of injuries for us and a couple of late tries for them brought them back into it.

“However, they are a good team and we knew that they would do that, with big lads in the middle and some pace in the backs.”

Duxbury combines his off-field duties with playing at fly half, and he admitted: “As backs, we have to thank the forwards because they were sensational and worked from minute one to minute 80.

“They used their footwork to evade contact as we know we are not the biggest team in the world.

“It was an absolute pleasure to sit behind them and let them do their job.

Baildon's forwards were superb against Ossett, helping their side to a crucial victory. (Image: Craig Irvine.)

“We had a lot of territory early doors and didn’t really convert well, which is a bit of an issue, but their defence is fresh at that stage and they have more energy to cover the gaps.

“We probably looked tired after 25 minutes playing uphill and when we turned round so close (Baildon were trailing 14-13 at half time), we know that playing downhill is worth 10 to 15 points.”

For large periods of the second half Ossett were in their own half, and Duxbury revealed: “We made a conscious decision this week to play territory a little bit more than we have been.

“Throwing the ball about in our 22 can put pressure on your own game, although we like to keep that option in there.

“But we also wanted to test out their kicking game, and when we were down there we defended so well.”

A turning point five minutes into the second half was Duxbury’s chip over the front line of Ossett’s midfield defence, and he regathered to score in the left-hand corner, putting Baildon 18-14 ahead.

He laughed: “That was a miracle - call it my first Christmas miracle.

“I knew that we had a penalty advantage and I put it over the top as I saw that they were flying up a bit, and the bounce worked perfectly for me but very rarely does that come off.”

On the nervy finale for Baildon, Duxbury said: “The table doesn’t lie and we know how good Ossett are.

“They have been pushing all the top boys this season and picking up good results and we knew that they were going to come back at us, but fortunately for us it was the last five minutes rather than the last 15 or 20.

“A lot of our forwards had run their blood to water by that stage and their forwards got on a bit of a rumble.

“But we know how to correct that for next week, when we have another formidable challenge coming our way in Huddersfield Laund Hill.”

On what was a balmy day at Jenny Lane on Saturday, Baildon did not really take advantage of Ossett conceding six early penalties, although Duxbury did put the home side ahead with one of those.

The visitors then scored with their first attack of note six minutes later, centres Nathan Lawrence and Caelum Jordan combining before left wing Will Forrest put Arian Woods over for a converted score.

Duxbury missed an 18th-minute penalty, awarded after Ossett No.8 Will Martin was sin-binned by referee Jake McAndrew for a no-arms tackle that was also high, but they did cash in with an Ollie Murphy try three minutes later to lead 8-7.

Ollie Murphy (front) was part of that excellent forward pack on Saturday, but also scored an important try. (Image: Craig Irvine.)

Ossett retook the lead a couple of minutes before the interval via a Lawrence try down the left which was aided by some poor Baildon tackling.

Forrest converted to make it 14-8, but fast hands then put Luke Strauss over in added time, giving Baildon that one-point deficit.

They were not behind for long, however, after Duxbury’s aforementioned chip and re-gather led to his try five minutes into the second half.

Baildon then missed two huge opportunities, one when a line-out deep in Ossett territory was not straight, while the other attack ended with a wild pass, but they did make it 21-14 with a Duxbury penalty on 61 minutes.

Will Eastell went over from a Luke Strauss pass six minutes later, and it seemed job done soon after.

Centre Jonty Glendinning ran through the middle to put Eastell over in the 71st minute, Duxbury converting for 33-14.

But with Baildon flagging, Otley secured their two bonus points with late tries from scrum half Danny Buckley and hooker Rob Young, Forrest converting both.

Bradford & Bingley kept their gap to high-flying Ripon to a manageable level by beating them 18-17 in a tense encounter down at Wagon Lane.

In Counties One Yorkshire, Keighley stayed third, an excellent second half performance helping them to win 37-10 at Harrogate Pythons.

Bradford Salem have opened up a four-point gap at the top of Regional Two North East, as they edged to a 24-18 win at lowly Goole while title rivals Rochdale lost 29-28 to Pontefract.

Finally, Cleckheaton won 38-33 at Percy Park in a chaotic Regional One North East match to move up to sixth.