OTLEY 2XV - 0 PONTEFRACT 2XV - 31

OTLEY 2XV - 0 PONTEFRACT 2XV - 31

Pontefract traveled to an unbeaten Otley on a cold and breezy afternoon. A slightly under strength Otley 2XV were immediately put on the back foot as the visitors, led by the half back pair of Hargreaves & Carr dictated play at a fast a furious pace. An early chance was spurned when Shane Simpson couldn't quiet ground the ball after a clever kick from Carr. Robust forward play by Tobi Field and Steamer set the position for Luke Banfield to open the scoring after some direct and powerful running from Wiggins who was a handful for the home defence all afternoon. 0-5
Otley briefly rallied but they couldn't handle the pace and power of the visitors who were unlucky not to add to their tally when a score was disallowed as the final pass was deemed to have drifted forward. From the resulting scrum Matty Hargreaves dived over to score after the visitors pack demolished the shell shocked forwards. 0-10
Pontefract continued to play some fantastic rugby but far too often the final pass didn't go to hand and several opportunities were wasted. The visitors dominance was finally rewarded when Carr darted over for a converted try to lead 0-17 at the interval.

The second period saw Otley come out fighting as they battled their way up the field and battered the Ponte try line with only some determined tackling from Coleman, Storey and Fenton denying them a score. The game became scrappy as the sky darkened and the temperature dropped with both sides struggling to win the mid field arm wrestle. Pontefract managed some territory from the boot of Carr and were unlucky not to score after the pack were held up over the line. From the resulting scrum a crisp move saw Wiggins crash over under the posts to extend the lead to 0-24. In the final moments Tom Carr made a 'trade mark' break that enabled an excited Will Storey to barge over after a phase of play that involved the majority of the team which summed up perfectly how Pontefract preformed most of the afternoon.
The front row of Field, Hawkins and Steamer set the platform for Hargreaves and Carr to dictate and dominate play resulting in a famous victory that was greatly deserved by all who took part in this thrilling encounter.