Old Otliensians RUFC vs Baildon RUFC Saturday 7th February 2015

Baildon looked like they were in trouble in the first half of their away fixture against Old Otliensians. Spreading it to their fast-paced wingers Otley stretched Baildon's defence to score the first points of the match down the wings after only six minutes played.

Baildon struggled to secure ball and looked panicked as they tried to get a handle on the match. Despite this, Baildon still showed signs of danger when they levelled the score; centre Hayden Lister supported a break from his partner Joe Moore to run under the posts from twenty yards out.

The rest of the half was all Otley. A penalty gave them the lead again as they continued to dominate. Strong runs from forwards tied in the visiting defence, which was exploited as the ball was skimmed along to Otley's wingers. Baildon seemed tired and disorientated as Otley ran two more tries in before the half time whistle, ending the half at a secure 20 - 7.

Baildon didn't say much at the half-time, having had plenty of opportunities to talk behind their own posts. The team which had snatched victory from them in their first fixture had pulverised them for forty minutes in the return fixture.

It was a great surprise then, when five minutes into the second half, it seemed like the players had switched jerseys as Baildon started to gain superiority. Tackling hard they forced Otley errors, with forwards such as Andy Magee performing some sterling work around the breakdown. On the 56th minute Hayden Lister added a second to his brace of tries as Otley started to struggle to contain the visitors at 20-14.

Superior line-out work from Hooker Tom Massey and Flanker Danny Pollard gave Baildon options as they pulsated forward, realising they were only a converted try away from winning the game. Scrum-half Robbie Hill released the forwards into the 10-12 channel which kept Otley pinned back in their own twenty-two. Rolling-mauls from the line-outs drove forward and had to be pulled down by Otley, resulting in numerous penalties but no further action. Baildon surged forward with the momentum at their back.

A further penalty gave Baildon a line-out on the opposition five. The home-side did well to keep out pick and goes from the Baildon pack. Lock Tom Peel, spotted a gap through the middle of a ruck and dove over to ground the ball on the try line. Unfortunately for the visiting team, the referee was in the wrong place to see, and by the time she moved to get a clear line of sight, the quick-thinking Otley forwards had put their hands under the ball, leading her to call the try as held up.

Baildon did record a further penalty conversion with ten minutes to go, but time escaped them and their comeback came to naught. The referee blew the final whistle at 20-17.

Written by Tom Peel, Baildon RUFC Press Officer.