Otley start their big year with a bang

OTLEY found the perfect way to start their 150th anniversary year – defeating leaders Hull Ionians after a performance that ticked just about every box.

In front of England coach Stuart Lancaster – a guest speaker at the Cross Greeners’ big dinner dance in Leeds in May – the hosts’ defence shone as the front-runners rarely threatened their line.

“It was a great performance from the boys,” said Otley’s forwards’ coach Mark Luffman. “Ionians are among the top two teams we have played so far.

“We gave the boys Christmas week off and only trained twice this week – there were ten players at training on Tuesday and we had a light session later in the week – but we don’t plan on making that a regular thing!

Luffman added: “We feel we have slightly under-performed over the first half of the season.

“What we are looking for is the right mentality and more consistency in terms of performance.”

As for the match itself, Luffman said: “I would give us an eight out of ten.

“We had some five-metre scrums at the end of the first half and a couple of five-metre scrums in the second half and we didn’t nail them.”

However, although it would have been nice for Otley not to have the pressure of knowing that a converted try would have given Ionians a narrow victory, the hosts saw the match out comfortably enough in the end, keeping the visitors pinned in their right-hand corner.

Five-metre scrums apart, Otley’s goal-kicker Stephen Depledge missed two penalties and a conversion but Otley’s head coach James Tiffany said: “It would be hyper-critical to focus on our failure to get more points. Our defence and our physicality were excellent.”

The home side began brightly, being pulled up for a forward pass from a dangerous break, and it was no more than they deserved when centre Michael Coady twice hacked on to score a seventh-minute try after an Ionians move broke down in midfield.

Chris Reakes put Ionians ahead from penalties in the 22nd and 28th minutes – the first after Otley lock Sam Cook was yellow carded and the second just after referee Jack Makepeace failed to spot a trip on Coady, whose change of direction flummoxed a would-be Ionians tackler.

The hosts did not deserve to be behind, but the visitors’ advantage only lasted two minutes as fly half James White’s crossfield kick was caught by Otley centre Jack Mackie, whose offload put Coady over for his second try, Depledge converting.

However, there was a nagging doubt that the home side’s failure to score just before half-time, when four penalties in their favour meant an incredible eight extra minutes of play in the first half, would come back to haunt them.

But stalwart forward play, some wayward kicking by Ionians and great defence, exemplified by a massive hit by Otley’s man of the match Coady, meant there were few alarms for them in a second half that was without points but not endeavour and excitement.