Luke tries to break through the Halifax defence
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Otliensians' ten game winning streak sadly came to an end last weekend, at Halifax. Although ‘Ensians had been victorious in their last meeting, ‘Fax were securely entrenched in the promotion zone and would be difficult to beat. Due to the rain and wind making the ball the proverbial 'bar of soap’, ball handling was a constant challenge for both sides.

Halifax made their intensions clear from the start; hitting each tackle with maximum ferocity. Otliensians retained the majority of possession for the first 15 minutes, but frustratingly couldn’t convert this into points. Handling errors plagued both teams, and caused the direction of play to switch every few phases.

Halifax opened the scoring with a converted try for their excellent full back. Sadly for the visitors, the referee didn’t spot their stand off knocking on the ball, before passing out. What should have been a scrum, ended up as a seven point deficit.

Shocked into action by this score, Otliensians drove Halifax back from the kick off. Excellent pressure from Harry Wales and Sam Featherstone forced a penalty from the stunned home side. Rather than kicking for goal Ensians opted for a line out. With the ball won, centre Jake Bentley cleverly drew two men (see images), before passing the ball out to supporting full back Joe Tindal, who scored in the corner. Unfortunately the swirling wind made the conversion too much for the usually trusted boot of Bentley. 7:5

Early into the second half, Halifax almost increased their two point lead, with a break down the right wing. Luckily centre Luke Cowdell made a fantastic cover tackle taking their player into touch.

Everything seemed to be in the home sides favour; Otliensians missed a couple of kicks, any penalty advantage was non existent, and the few times star winger Will Howarth had the ball in space, there seemed to be a minor infringement in play, causing the whistle to blow. To the frustration of the travelling fans, midway through the second half, Halifax were awarded a penalty in front of the posts, giving them an easy three points. This closed the points tally at 10:5.

Knowing another try would see ‘Ensians back in contention, the home side battled it out until the end, in what many supporters would agree, was the most physical contest so far this season.

On balance Halifax seemed hungrier than ‘Ensians, and really gave it their all. Otliensians should have done more with their possession, made light of their frustrations, and focussed on their many strengths. This defeat makes promotion to Yorkshire 3 even more elusive.

Yorkshire 4, week 20
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