Otley are holding fire before deciding whether to appeal to the Rugby Football Union over the deduction of five SSE National League Two North points by the National Clubs’ Association (NCA).

The sanction was imposed because Otley fielded an ineligible player in Alexander Beaumont against Harrogate on December 21.

But, buoyed by their vital 20-11 victory at Sheffield Tigers last Saturday, Otley may decide not to continue their appeal and involve the governing body.

Otley’s secretary Marc Lawrence explained: “If we win at home to Leicester Lions on Saturday, we may decide to take our medicine, whereas if we lose we may decide to appeal to the RFU, who we feel have some culpability in the matter.

“The appeal verdict from NCA disciplinary secretary Brian Vincent was dated February 16 and was e-mailed to us on February 17, so we have 14 days in which to appeal from that date.

“We have put pen to paper and composed a response and are just waiting to see the result of Saturday’s match before deciding what to do.”

The victory at Dore Moor last weekend put Otley 21 points ahead of the third and highest relegation place, which is currently occupied by Tigers.

However, the Sheffield club do have two games in hand and, apart from themselves, have the rest of the bottom five teams to play (Otley are sixth from bottom).

Lawrence called last Saturday’s win “our best of the season”, adding: “It was a complete team performance.

”The game-plan was to keep possession in the second half, and that denied Sheffield the chance to kick the ball with the strong wind and put us under extreme pressure.”