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Old Otliensians 1stXV 5 pts v Castleford 1stXV 18 pts 

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Otliensians Cup run came to an end on Saturday after a very hard fought contest against Castleford, the current leaders of Yorkshire Division 3, who having reached the last 16 must now believe they can go all the way to Twickenham, as a fellow Yorkshire side Otliensians wish them well.

The big and well drilled Castlefod side have built a reputation for their no nonsense approach, but this is one area where Otliensians thrive, they will never take a backward step, and in the end the difference between the sides proved to be the way in which Castleford were able to exploit their numerical advantage when the home side had players in the sin bin, as opposed to Otliensians who were unable to utilise the same advantage. Having said that, for 5 players to have been sin binned, 3 from Castleford in the first half and 2 from Otliensians in the second half, in what was a hard but very fair game, played between two committed sides, did leave both sets of spectators wondering.

The game got off to the worst possible start for the home side, with Castleford pressing with the elements and forcing a 5 metre line out, this was shortened and the initial catch and drive was stopped in its tracks by the well organised home counter thrust, unfortunately the visitors found two gaps on the blind side and managed to force their way over wide on the left for the 5 point lead after only 2 minutes. There followed a very tight period where Castleford were effectively using their larger size to attack through their pack in waves, this was thwarted at every juncture by the excellent Otliensians defence, which although under considerable pressure did not wilt or shy away from its task. Otliensians came back with good forward inter play and offloading to release the backs, and following a take against the head on the left, Foster for the home side was just wide with the penalty. A sustained 10 minute period of pressure by Otliensians yielded no further points, and the numerical advantage of Castleford sin binned players could not be exploited. Castleford won a ball close to their line and produced an excellent handling move to stretch the scrambling Otliensians defence over 60 metres, and this lead to almost consistent Castleford attack for the remainder of the half, but Otliensians had done their homework, and a series of defensive strategies both in the backs and forwards were employed, and the half ended 5 - 0.

Straight from the kick off Otliensians were awarded a penalty, but the ball fell agonisingly short, but it was not long before the home side were level from their own innovative play from a scrum on the right. Arbuckle picked up from No 8, to feed Birch, who used the decoys to flick the ball inside to Foster he arked outside for Smith to draw the man and release Woods to score wide on the right, at 5 - 5 the game had the hallmark of a classic. Immediately Castleford used their forward game to force a penalty which just drifted wide, and after 50 minutes they fashioned another slick back move to release their left wing for the corner, the Otliensians defence was again up to the task as they scrambled across for the official to rule a double movement with the penalty to the home side providing some relief. The Otliensians scrum was solid with Bonner, Lyons, Boughan and then Myers not giving an inch and the back five of Markus Keinhorst, Hill, Tom O'Donnell, Grey and Arbuckle, supplemented by Joe Robinson were competing fiercely with their larger opponents. The line out strategies were working to perfection, with one penalty award perplexing the visitors as Otliensians used their knowledge of the Laws to the full, but there is no denying the fact that on the balance of play Castleford were the team on the front foot. The backs had also used two or three different defensive strategies throughout the game, frustrating their opponents who could rarely make a telling break, with Lee O'Donnell and Ratahi to the fore.

This titanic game was looking as though it might go to extra time, but the pivotal moments came in the 66th and 70th minutes, with first Arbuckle then Kristian Keinhorst being sin binned, leaving the home side to play the majority of the remainder of the game with 13 players, which proved to be decisive as Castleford took full advantage of their superior numbers, firstly forcing a gap through their pack near the line after 72 minutes, then finishing with a fantastic move from their own 22, featuring good hands and offloading before the score on the right wing after 76 minutes.

In the final analysis Castleford deserved their win, but Otliensians proved once again that they have the skills to compete with teams from a higher level, and must now continue to show this type of performance in the second half of the season as they concentrate on securing a promotion place.
 

appleyr@bigfoot.com