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OORUFC 1stXV 13 pts Thornensians 19 pts
OORUFC 3rdXV 6 pts vs Otley 3 pts
With both side struggling to raise sides, the game against local rivals started with uncontested scrums. The powerful ‘Ensians pack had the edge in the early stages with Lee Paley, Andy Rockett, Mark Copping and Richard Dorian putting together some powerful drives. In the loose, the back row of Dominic Birkin, brother James and Derek Mott worked hard to stifle promising moves by the lively Otley backs with a very fast centre. With both sides attempting to move the ball wide, play moved from end to end and for the home side, centres Peter Tempest and Josh Howarth worked well together to gain ground. Although both sides had chances, strong defences managed to rule the day and at half time, the score was 0 – 0. In the second period, the home pack once again began to dominate with lock Mark Copping setting an example with his hard work and enthusiasm. At half back Aiden Carr got the ball away swiftly and fly half Dave Smith had a faultless display in attack and defence. In one of many visits to the Viscounts’ half, the visitors transgressed and Carr converted a fine penalty to give the home side a slender 3 – 0 lead on 53 minutes. Otley were undaunted and their backs made life very uncomfortable with full back Graham Bentley and wingers Tom Broadbent and Steve Lofthouse pulling off some vital try-saving tackles. Otley were rewarded for a long period of pressure when Charley Davey dropped an excellent goal to level the scores at 3 all on 64 minutes. The game threw up scoring opportunities for both sides, but ferocious tackling, with young home flanker Dominic Birkin leading the way, kept the scores level. ‘Ensians continued to have the edge in the pack but Viscounts certainly posed many threats through clever use of their speedy back division. On 71 minutes, the stalemate was broken when Aiden Carr punished an infringement with his second penalty to give the hosts a 6 – 3 lead. Otley threw everything into attack in the closing minutes and they were camped on the ‘Ensians line for long periods, but committed defence managed to hold out to give the home side the slenderest of victories at 6 points to 3. As
usual in the encounters with Viscounts, the game was played in a
tremendous spirit and the result could have gone either way. Credit must
go to both sides for producing a very entertaining and enjoyable game to
liven up a damp and grey afternoon. THORNESNSIANS 2ndXV 62 - OLD OTLIENSIANS 2ndXV 0 ‘Ensians made the trip to
Thorne with a much depleted team and, with the back division playing
together for the first time, they knew they were up against it on a big
pitch against a side with a mixture of old heads and speedy youngsters.
The first few minutes showed that Thornensians had a very lively scrum
half and he wasted no time in getting his backs moving. From good
interplay between forwards and backs, the hosts slipped the ball to their
powerful winger who scored halfway out on 7 minutes to give them a 5 – 0
lead.
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