Dalesmen still can't find the correct key

Wharfedale still haven't managed to find the key to unlock Otley's defence.

Five weeks after having ample possession but losing 18-0 at The Avenue came the National League Two derby return at Cross Green.

And although the Dalesmen didn't have as much ball in hand, they created more half breaks.

However, they still could not breach the black and white wall, including a spell when Otley were down to 13 men because of sin-binnings to Kris Fullman and Richard Snowball.

Wharfedale centre Chris Malherbe couldn't hide his disappointment afterwards, saying: "We want to play some rugby and score but panic after two or three phases because we haven't scored.

"And when we did make our breaks, Otley scrambled really well and put us under pressure, got hands on ball and slowed our ball down .

"All this added to our frustration and we ended up doing some stupid things at crucial times.

"Defensively, they are the hardest team in our division to break down but you would expect that with them having just come from the First Division and with them having to defend really hard for a whole season.

"They have brought all that into the Second Division and showed how difficult it is for teams to break them down. We have now played them twice and haven't scored a try."

Malherbe added though: "We are still a young side and we are trying to play a certain brand of rugby but we have got to realise that we need to do the simple things well before we can play all the fancy stuff.

"We need to do that primary job well before moving on to the secondary stuff. But we are slowly getting there and there were glimpses of that in this match.

"If we can string a couple of wins together then we can start rolling and winning becomes a habit."

Otley flanker James Tiffany said: "We analysed what they had done to us at Wharfedale, which was to play width as they had all the ball, and we tried to nullify that.

"It was nice again that they didn't cross our try-line but we are pleased with our performance.

"We got five points and are still top of the league and hopefully we can push on in the new year."

Nevertheless, although Tiffany was delighted that the Dalesmen didn't get any five-pointers, he did confess: "We are getting pretty good at defending with 13 men but we must sort out our disciplinary record.

"However, we were chuffed as a pack to keep them out in our right-hand corner when we were men light.

"We showed plenty of passion and chopped people down when we could and Robin Kitching went ball-hunting, which definitely put them under pressure."

Otley may be at the head of the pile at the moment but Tiffany warned: "There is a lot of rugby to play yet but we'll just worry about our next game after our week off and try and keep winning. It is also vital that we keep our away form going, which has been good."

Tiffany also welcomed the return of fly half Greendale from Leeds Tykes, saying: "He isn't a bad acquisition but we don't know how long we will be able to keep him.

"I have known Adam for a while but he showed in his try with his two shows and goes that he is a class act."

The Greens started brightly and went ahead as early as the third minute with an Andrew Baggett penalty.

Greendale was wide with a penalty five minutes later but Otley took the lead anyway in the tenth minute.

No 8 Matt Stockdale broke down the middle and found winger Steve Parsons in support. He was scragged inside the Wharfedale 22 but scrum half Dave McCormack picked the ball up from second phase and gave full back Ian Shuttleworth the chance to put hooker Ben Steele over.

Greendale converted but the lead was reduced to a point in the 12th minute when a Malherbe break led to Otley straying offisde, Baggett again slotting the kick.

Wharfedale missed a golden chance when fly half Luke Gray spilt an inside pass from sparky scrum half James Doherty in the 20th minute but they took the lead anyway in the 33rd minute, Baggett's third successful kick following Otley being penalised for handling back.

For the rest of the half the Dalesmen were penned in their right-hand corner. The first penalty kick to touch came to nothing but from the second McCormack went over, Greendale's conversion just having the legs to send Otley into the changing rooms 14-9 to the good.

Both sides made injury-induced changes at half-time, Otley bringing on Robin Kitching at full back for Shuttleworth and the Dalesmen replacing Dan Hart with Andy Hodgson.

Baggett hooked a penalty attempt in the 43rd minute after Otley were guilty of pushing in the line-out and the hosts made them pay for that miss.

Kitching, using left winger Danny Smith as a foil, ghosted over for a try five minutes later, Greendale's conversion making it 21-9.

The fly half's choice try from 40 metres out came in the 55th minute, which he also converted, but Fullman (62 minutes) and Snowball (68 minutes) were then sin-binned.

However, the Greens could not capitalise and when Otley were back to full strength they bagged two late tries.

Kitching scored in the 80th minute after the pack had laid the platform and Stockdale crossed five minutes into injury time after a splendid break and pass by former Bee McCormack. Greendale converted both to take his tally to 17 points.