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STOCKSBRIDGE 1stXV 0 pts vs OLD OTLIENSIANS 1stXV 29 pts

Old Otliensians travelled to South Yorkshire on Saturday to be greeted with a pitch ankle deep in mud, a howling gale and conditions ranging from horizontal rain to large hail stones that made a mockery of any attempts to make any useful dent in to the Hessle points difference at the top of the table, but with another two points secured, the pressure remains in to another week for the title.

In what was to be the Keinhorst brothers show, Otliensians had their usual start with the first try falling to Nick Keinhorst after 10 minutes of pressure, following an excellent scrum move with Markus Keinhorst executing the No8 pick up, tranferring to scrum half Birch who grubbered to the corner for the score. The next 20 minutes saw both teams struggling with the conditions and although Otliensians were dominating both territory and possession the home side continued to compete aggressively during every phase of play, and it wasn't until the 34th minute that Nick Keinhorst scored his second, following good hands from left to right with Robinson and Tom Woods prominent before Nick expertly side stepped the final two defenders, for Kristian Keinhorst to add the extras.

Directly on half time Nick completed his hat trick, following excellent work from the ever alert Birch who took a quick tap 10 metres out for Nick to race in at the right hand corner for the 17-0 half time lead.

As conditions deteriorated further, Otliensians secured an iron grip on the game and the Stocksbridge discipline began to break down with players been sin binned for dangerous play, but it wasn't until the 62nd minute that Kristian added the 4th try dummying over from another dominant scrum on the home 22 metre line.

As has been the case all season, Otliensians have mastered the art of playing in all conditions and it was fitting that Markus concluded the try scoring on 74 minutes after a bout of handling from half way involving most of the team that would have graced any game, Kristian converted for the 29-0 scoreline and with the referee blowing for time shortly afterwards to save the loyal band of travelling supporters and both sets of players any further chance of hyperthermia the stage was set for the next round of the Aire Wharfe Cup on this evening against one of next seasons league opponents Roundhegians.


Report supplied by the coach, Gary Walker.


OLD OTLIENSIANS A 34 - LEODIENSIANS B 12

Before the kick-off, ‘Ensians 2nd XV members were presented with a new set of shirts by Pauline Normanton, on behalf her late husband, Club President, Adrian Normanton. Otliensians’ second team then went on to provide an excellent display and in scoring 34 points, they pushed their total points for the season above 1000, making them the first team to achieve this in the history of the Club.

Leos fielded a big pack and for the first ten minutes they dominated possession through a series of drives and rucks which pinned the home side down in their own 22. Sound tackling by the back row of Dale Kennedy, Toby Baltrop and Ben Smith kept the line clear and the reliable boot of outside half Ian Chaplin relieved the pressure. As they began to gain good lineout possession through skipper Brett Tenniswood, lock Chris Hayward and flanker Smith, the home side moved the ball wide and centres Andy Hayward and Andy Bower made inroads into Leos’ territory. The visitors strayed offside and Chaplin put ‘Ensians 3 –0 in the lead after 12 minutes.

As the hail and snow came down, the home backs continued to attack and wingers James Hayward and Dominic Oddie both had good runs. The visitors regained possession, but as they attempted to spread the ball wide, ‘Ensians full back Matt Tenniswood swooped in to intercept and sprint 50 yards to score under the posts. Chaplin’s conversion gave the hosts a 10 – 0 lead after 22 minutes. As Leos’ heads dropped, the home side continued to attack through good interplay between forwards and backs and centre Andy Hayward sliced through to score a fine try. Chaplin converted and then added a penalty five minutes later to lift the home side’s score to 20 – 0 at half time.

The visitors started the second period in much more determined mood and the home side found their big forwards a handful. ‘Ensians front row of Adam Mudd, Ross Myers and Tony Myers worked hard against their heavier opponents and scrum half Til Leccisotti did well in dealing with untidy ball. To some extent, Leos downfall came when they tried to move the ball wide where sloppy handling and the strong tackles from Bower and Andy Hayward often produced turnovers. On one such occasion, Bower hacked the ball on for young winger James Hayward to follow up and dive over the line. Chaplin’s conversion took the score to 27 – 0 after 55 minutes.

This seemed to provide a wake-up call for Leos when they belatedly realised that through keeping the ball tighter, their big pack could make progress with rolling mauls. This tactic paid off when ten minutes later, they drove over for a try near the posts which was converted to take the score to 27 – 7 on 55 minutes. Although the visitors continued to dominate possession, the home backs always looked dangerous with ball in hand and from slick hands by Chaplin, Andy Hayward found a gap and went in near the posts for his second try. The trusty boot of Chaplin stretched the lead to 34 – 7 with ten minutes to go.

Leos hit back with more good forward play and, as the final whistle approached, they drove over half way out The conversion failed making the full-time score 34 – 12 to the home side. This was another good team effort by ‘Ensians in a season where they have excelled in producing fast open rugby week after week.

Report supplied by John Harison.
 

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