Depledge holds his nerve in feast of Stephen

A THRILLING game, with the lead constantly changing, ended in Otley’s favour when scrum half Stephen Depledge, with the final act of the day, converted his third try for a well-merited win, taking his contribution to 20 points.

It was, however, a team performance, with the defence working well and strong play from the forwards, who had a part in all of the tries.

Freakishly, Hoppers also had one player doing most of the scoring, winger Lewis Allen totting up 19 of their 24 points with a try, one conversion and four penalties.

He opened the scoring with a penalty on six minutes but Otley came straight back to gain a line-out from, which a clean catch and a clinical drive produced a try, hooker Ben Steele grounding.

With the lead frequently swapping, a second penalty from Allen was followed by a try for Depledge, who dodged over from the rear of a rolling maul.

For once beating Otley’s tight defence, centre Barry Woof slipped over to put the hosts 11-10 in front just before the break but three minutes into the second half, Depledge went in from the rear of a ruck, only to see a flurry of scoring from Allen, with a converted try and a penalty.

A penalty each then left Hoppers six points in the lead with eight minutes remaining, and it was at the very end when the Otley forwards drove at a scrum for Depledge to complete his hat-trick and add the vital conversion.