Northallerton 20 Old Otliensians 5

BOTH the weather and Otliensians performance were equally disappointing on an afternoon they will be happy to forget.

Northallerton kicked off, regained possession and quickly established and retained good field position. The visitors were on the defensive and were unable to break out of their own half until, against the run of play, winger Josh Howarth took his side within sight of the opposition line.

The home side soon relieved the pressure and they kept Otliensians penned in their own half as they

made careless errors and gave away penalties.

Crossing and offside indiscretions meant that whenever Otliensians made ground, the initiative was immediately handed back to Northallerton.

After 25 minutes Northallerton finally opened the scoring with a try out wide. The conversion was missed but they did extend their advantage to 8-0 at the break with a penalty.

The visitors were lucky not to be further behind, but they had defended well and were in contention for the second half.

A quick turnaround on this cold day was sensible for everyone and the home team were soon into their stride again after the break.

With rain beginning to fall and their pack dominating the scrum, Northallerton were causing real problems. ‘

The visitors continued to concede penalties and with so many players having poor games on the same afternoon, collective cohesion and direction went by the board.

After several warnings, Otliensians tried the referee’s patience once too often and a penalty try was awarded to Northallerton.

With so many mistakes from fumbles, dropped balls and penalties, this was a compelling case for summer rugby.

Otliensians were in disarray and their scrum was walked back over the line for a third Northallerton try.

In the dying minutes, and to everyone's surprise, Otliensians broke out for skipper Sam Featherstone to register an unconverted try. Small consolation for their travelling fans who were ready for the warmth of the clubhouse.