A totally unjustifiable decision to award the visitors a scrum feed directly resulted in the visitors scoring a converted try just before half-time. At the end of the game, the referee then turned a blind eye to a blatant offside which would have given Otley a penalty kick under the posts to clinch what would have been a deserved victory. It was in stark contrast to when Otley's Paul Mooney had only minutes earlier been punished for the same offence and given a stern ticking off by the referee.

These were the singularly most damaging aspects of a performance which persistently protected the visitors and kept them in the game. Other than determination, Stourbridge offered little in terms of quality rugby. They scored 2 tries from kicks with the first coming as noted above when they should not have been in possession. In contrast, Otley scored 3 superb tries in a match they dominated. Unfortunately, Otley are their own worst enemy at times and punished themselves with unforced mistakes. Had these been avoided, then they would have won this contest despite the referee and by some margin with a fair wind.

With the pack missing the bulk and experience of Justin Wring, Kris Fullman, Howard Parr and Dan Hyde, it may have been a concern how Otley coped up front against a sizeable pack. This concern was laid to rest as the Otley pack marched their opponents back 30 metres at a time on a couple of occasions in the first half. It was surprising that this tactic was not pursued even more as it made the visitors look vulnerable.

Otley's backs profited from the early dominance up front with centre Rob Whatmuff, who ran powerfully all game, crashing over next to the right hand post. Unfortunately the simple conversion opportunity was missed as the kicking tee had inexcusably been left in the dressing room. Rob Kitching planted the ball in the long grass and failed to get the ball airborne. 2 points unforgivably lost!

Otley failed to take the kick-off and an infringement from the resulting melee resulted in Stourbridge winger Ali Bressington converting a straightforward penalty to make up for an earlier long range miss. Otley 5 Stourbridge 3.

Otley were soon back on the attack with Mooney making a strong run down the middle of the pitch. The ball was transferred to the right on halfway where Kitching ran onto the ball at pace. He fended off the 3 attempted tackles before diving over in the corner. He couldn't make the conversion due to a strong wind although the kicking tee had now been located. Otley led 10-3.

Once again, Otley failed to deal with the kick-off and Stourbridge were given another kickable penalty to make it 10-6.

Playing with a strong wind, Stourbridge were able to clear their lines with long kicks and with the referee playing advantage for 4 or 5 phases, they stayed in the Otley '22 for the last 5 minutes of the first half. Stourbridge kicked a penalty into the corner from a penalty and proceeded to catch and drive from a lineout exactly 5 metres out. Otley's defence of this manouevre was outstanding as the visitors pack was dismantled and pushed backwards. The resulting pile of bodies came to rest 8 metres from the Otley line but the referee inexplicably gave Stourbridge possession. Directly from that scrum, the ball was kicked behind the Otley defence and Stourbridge centre Marcus Cook grasped the ball out of mid-air to score. Bressington converted and Stourbridge were in front at 10-13.

When Sam Robinson kicked a drop-goal just before half-time, Stourbridge went in 10-16 at the break - a scoreline which quite honestly beggered belief.

Otley's start to the second half was outstanding. Guy Easterby collected the re-start and passed inside to right winger Steve Parsons in the '22. Parsons burst through the Stourbridge defence and was eventually grounded on the opposition 10 metre line. The ball was recycled left and Ian Shuttleworth sliced through the visitors defence. He raced 30 metres before finding supporting left winger Danny Smith with a pin-point pass and Smith scorched over in the corner to finish a simply superb try. Kitching added a magnificent conversion to put Otley back in the lead at 17-16.

Otley were again dominant for much of the second half but once again hit the self-destruct button to let the visitors back in. An aimless kick by Stourbridge replacement full-back Rod Petty was knocked on inside the Otley '22 although the onrushing Stourbridge player chasing the kick was 20 metres in front of the kicker. Nevertheless, the mistake should not have been made. Stourbridge used the gifted possession and a crossfield kick was collected by leaping left winger John Hall who scored. Bressington failed with the relatively easy conversion attempt but Otley trailed 17-21 with 15 minutes to go.

Otley spent the remainder of the game once again on top with strong runs from Whatmuff and Matt Stockdale (who looked a different player at No.8) continually punching holes in the defensive armoury.

Otley drove towards the sticks and with numbers on the right, a desperate Stourbridge forward through his body on the floor to kill the ball. Alas an Otley penalty but no yellow card for what was the most deserving offence imaginable. With Stourbridge's defence re-organised and complete in number, Kitching kicked the penalty with 9 minutes remaining to make it 20-21.

Otley were soon back on the attack and held possession at a ruck 20 metres out directly in front of the posts. Another desperate Stourbridge forward this time came round the side of the ruck under the referee's nose. The referee's reaction was delayed and eventually he threw his arms in the air to wave play on.

Otley had one last attack down the left but the ball went astray as the pass was forced and from the ensuing scrum Stourbridge kicked the ball out of play and the final whistle sounded.

An extremely disappointing defeat but one from which Otley will have to bounce back from as they look forward to next weekend's derby clash at Wharfedale.

Otley: Kitching; Parsons, Whatmuff, Mooney (Dench 70), Smith; Shuttleworth, Easterby; Trethewey, Steele (Plevey 55), Wederall (Turner 55); Snowball, Williams; Tiffany, Bland, Stockdale

Stourbridge:

Referee: Andrew Taylorson (RFU)

MATCH STATISTICS

Otley 20

Tries: Whatmuff, Kitching, Smith

Cons: Kitching

Pens: Kitching

Stourbridge 21

Tries: Cook, Hall

Cons: Bressington

Pens: Bressington (2)

DGs: Robinson

Click here for photos of the match courtesy of Paul Barrett

Click here for individual league records