Otley's chairman Paul Jacques was quoted in Friday's Yorkshire Evening Post re-iterating the club's overall objective: "We've got a very simple brief this year – to win every match". Of course any side should endeavour to win every game it plays but it would seem that Otley need to address how they go about winning each game they play.

With Peter Clegg away on a family holiday, the preparation for such an important league match did not look or feel right. Players arrived in dribs and drabs with a sparsely populated team coach. The performance and application in the second half mirrored the preparation.

Manchester lost No.8 Stuart Eboral with a fractured hand from the kick off and Otley were soon on the front foot with right winger Steve Parsons jinking back inside a stretched defence to score. Rob Kitching was narrowly wide with the conversion attempt but Otley had an early 0-5 lead.

An excellent kick had Manchester trapped 5 yards from their own line but the first piece of slack Otley play allowed Manchester to take a quick line-out and break upfield. Parsons eventually held up Manchester's Ben Coulbeck over the line.

Manchester kept the pressure on and Coulbeck was finally awarded when he went over for a try in the opposite corner. Gareth Wynne failed with the conversion attempt but the scores were level at 5-5 after 10 minutes.

Otley then proceeded to dominate for the remainder of the first half with the hosts unable to break out of their own half. Some slick handling across the backline saw Otley breach the Manchester defence at will. Left winger Danny Smith was proving a real handful and he hit the line to carve his way through a flat footed defence before side-stepping the last man to cross behind the posts. Kitching converted to make it 5-12 to Otley.

Smith made another searing break soon after but the scrambling defence just managed to bring him down 5 yards short of the line. He did manage to offload in the tackle to supporting flanker Xavier Andre who crossed the line next to the posts. Unfortunately the referee deemed the pass forward and what would have been an excellent try was ruled out.

Kitching did add two further penalties to give his side a 5-18 lead which was representative of Otley's stranglehold on the game.

Unfortunately, things started to go badly wrong after 37 minutes. With Manchester making a rare visit to Otley's half, they opted to kick for goal from a penalty 40 metres out. Wynne's kick dropped short of the right-hand upright and should have been caught and cleared. Amazingly the ball was allowed to bounce and bobble and the onrushing Manchester centre Andre Wilson was able to re-gather and score under the posts. Wynne converted to make it 12-18 and Manchester were back in a game courtesy of Otley shooting themselves in the foot.

Kitching did manage another penalty to make it 12-21 at the break but Otley then seemed to leave their ability and heads in the changing room at half-time rather than the gun!

Buoyed by their re-introduction to the contest, Manchester were playing with renewed belief and also profited from the "leg-up" of a 9-2 second-half penalty count in their favour.

Wynne used one of those penalties to reduce the arrears to 15-21 in the opening minutes of the second half and Manchester started to gather momentum. Otley were then reduced to 14 men when Smith was sin-binned for a professional foul and Manchester used the extra man to create the space for Andy Vilk to go over. Wynne converted and Manchester were in the lead for the first time at 22-21.

Otley flanker Nathan Bland (who replaced the injured Andre after 20 miutes) was one of the few forwards prepared to graft at the 'coal face' but he was often left alone with No.8 Dan Hyde to contest for ball at the break-down.

With Otley looking all-at-sea and no direction being offered from the sideline, Manchester's momentum continued to build. A break in midfield by Henry Platt saw Manchester move up field and prop Nick Flynn was on hand to barge his way over the line with Wynne converting to make it 29-21 with 15 minutes to go.

With Otley once again back down to 14 men when Ian Shuttleworth was sin-binned, Wynne added a final penalty to leave the final scoreline at 32-21.

In the end, a well-deserved win by Manchester who took the opportunity that they were presented with. It is hard to believe that an Otley side with as much ability and experience of rugby at a higher level could perform so poorly in the second half. Hopefully, this will provide the reality check that is needed to remind them of the desire and application that is needed to win a game of rugby at any level.

If Otley are to be contenders in this division then they will have to earn that success by rolling up their sleeves and applying their ability so that they don't underachieve like this again. Hopefully this group of players and coaches will learn from this experience and come back a bigger and better unit when they face the challenges ahead.

Otley face Henley at home next Saturday before travelling to bottom-club Nuneaton the following week. They have the opportunity to put their season back on track.

Otley: Kitching (Burrell 50); Parsons, Whatmuff, Dench, Smith; Shuttleworth, Easterby; Trethewey (Turner 70), Nilsen, Fullman; Snowball, Williams; Stockdale (Sayers 75), Andre (Bland 20), Hyde

Referee: (RFU)

MATCH STATISTICS

Manchester 32

Tries: Coulbeck, Wilson, Vilk, Flynn

Cons: Wynne (3)

Pens: Wynne (2)

Otley 21

Tries: Parsons, Smith

Cons: Kitching

Pens: Kitching (3)

Click here photos of the match kindly provided by Paul Barrett

Click here for individual league records