With Paul Mooney rested following a serious car accident in midweek, Otley made one change in the backs with Jon Buchanan starting alongside veteran Rob Whatmuff who led the side out on his 200th League appearance for the club - well done Roger! Rob Kitching came into the squad with a place on the bench.

Otley also made one change in the pack with Xavier Andre starting at openside flanker and Nathan Bland reverting to the bench. Prop Paul Turner was among the replacements with Ryan Wederall having suffered a calf injury in the week.

No doubt in the knowledge of what faced them, Halifax had moved to bolster their front row ranks with the loan signings of George Jenkins and Jamie Kilbane from Rotherham. They must have been relieved however to see Justin Wring having a run-out with the Saracens along with brawny winger Steve Parsons (on their comebacks from injury), experienced scrum-half Andy Brown and big unit centre Luther Burrell (on loan from Leeds Carnegie).

Otley gained the upper hand early on in proceedings with referee punishing the visitors' attempts to slow down the play. Adam Greendale kicked two early penalties to give his side a 6-0 lead and then Halifax prop Jenkins and scrum-half Craig Aikman were both sin-binned for persistent infringements.

Otley scored their first try when Greendale kicked behind the visitors towards the corner flag. While Halifax played "after you sir" 5 yards from their own line, flanker Matt Stockdale was on hand to pick up the loose ball and dive over. Greendale was narrowly wide with conversion but made no mistake with a penalty soon after to make it 14-0.

Otley kicked to the corner flag from a penalty deep inside Halifax's territory to set up for the second try. A well-worked lineout move saw the forward pack rumble towards the Halifax line and flanker Xavier Andre was the last man up from the melee with the ball tucked under his arm. Greendale landed the touchline conversion to make it 21-0 to Otley.

It took until 35 minutes had elapsed before Halifax occupied the Otley half with ball in hand. Full-back Joe Knowles kicked a penalty on the stroke of half-time to reduce the arrears to 21-3.

Halifax started the second half with continued enthusiasm but lacked the power up front and the cutting edge in the backs to breach the stoic Otley defence.

It took until 60 minutes for Otley to register their third try. With play 30 metres from the Fax' line, Otley full-back Ian Shuttleworth absorbed 2 defenders with a half-break before freeing his arms to release the supporting Andre with a ball which set the gazelle-like backrower on a free run to the line. Andre rounded behind the posts for Greendale to convert to make it 28-3.

Otley's 4th 'bonus point' try was probably the best of the match. From a line-out on the left touchline 40 metres out, the ball was transferred across the backline with speed and accuracy which created space for right winger Kyle Dench to make an incision deep inside the Fax' 22. Dench released the pass in contact to the supporting Greendale who outpaced the cover to race in at the corner flag. Greendale converted his own try to give him a personal tally of 20 points before taking a well-earned rest with 10 minutes to go.

Halifax didn't let their heads drop and were rewarded in the 75th minute when centre Oliver Marns picked up a loose ball on half-way and ran unopposed to the Otley posts. Knowles converted and Halifax had reduced the scoreline to 35-10.

Appropriately Otley had the last say in the match when Dench was once again set free down the right-hand touchline and raced in from 70 metres out to score at the corner. Replacement Rob Kitching hit the upright with the conversion attempt to leave the final score at Otley 40 Halifax 10.

Otley look forward to entertaining Southend at home next weekend.

Otley: Shuttleworth (capt); Dench, Whatmuff, Buchanan, Smith; Greendale (Kitching 70), Easterby; Trethewey (Turner 55), Nilsen (Sayers 70), Fullman; Snowball, Williams; Stockdale, Andre (Bland 65), Hyde

Halifax: Knowles, Greenwood, Marns, Endersby, Hall, McGee (capt), Aikman, Blades, Hooker, Jenkins, White, 2nd Row, Skillen, Lewis, Brown

Referee: C Sharp (RFU)

MATCH STATISTICS

Otley 40

Tries: Andre (2), Stockdale, Greendale, Dench

Cons: Greendale (3)

Pens: Greendale (3)

Halifax 10

Tries: Marns

Cons: Knowles

Pens: Knowles

Click here for photos of the match taken by Paul Barrett

Click here for individual league records