Ossett lose narrowly to league leaders Otliensians

Tries. Rich Lister and Jack Drury
Conv. Jack Drury 2
Pens. Jack Drury. 2

Player of year points. Picked by JP.
5. Tom Sprott
4. Joe Rotchell
3. Tim Roberts
2. Chris Blackburn
1. Jim Edgington

Ossett came within 3 minutes of beating the undefeated league leaders only to be denied by a late try.

Ossett knew the danger Ensians had in the back line and set about disrupting their source. The scrum was always going to be key and the ossett 8 set out pushing the visitors around the park giving them a torrid afternoon. In the absence of JP, the line out was a different story with the Ensians causing disruption to the Osset line. In open play, Ossett looked to unsettle them up front and set our stall out. Some early handbags established that neither team would be backing down.

Ossett deservedly took the lead after several drives in the forwards allowed space for Jack Drury to step his man and score to make it 7-0. An exchange of pens made it 10-3 at half time.

In the back division, the line speed from Ossett, put the Ensians 10 under pressure and just couldn't get his back line going. He was replaced at half time and immediately Ensians looked a more dangerous outfit with the ball. A good break made 40 yards and the Ossett pack rushed to the breakdown instead of filling the field and the ball was moved wide to score and make it 10-8. Another pen gave Ensians the lead 10-11 with 20 mins left,

Ossett responded immediately with a cracking up and under from Tim Roberts causing the Ensians full back to carry it over. From the 5 metre scrum Rich Lister buried over to make it 17-11. Ensians responded again and Ossetts failure to realign allowed them to go blind and score to take the score to 17-16. Ossett extended the lead with a pen to make it 20-16 with 5 left.

Ensians changed tack and looked to pick and drive and three or four phases of quick ball saw their 2nd row drive over to take the lead 21-20. A harsh penalty against Tom Sprott for hands in a ruck when he had turned over an isolated player allowed Ensians to take it to 20-24. This was crucial as Ossett had a kick able penalty in the last play but 3 points was no longer good enough.

A great game - a tough battle that was refereed well. A few 50 50 s at end didn't go our way but that's life.

You have to be performance driven and that was a big step up from recent weeks. The drive was there and the motivation to defend and battle it out. If we had played like that against other opponents, we may have had a couple more wins. We have to take that form into next week.

Some big performances were needed in the absence of our influential 7,8 and 9. Tim Roberts was outstanding and not only is a composed figure at the back but gets the best out of Jim Edgington and Jonny Lazenby on the wings. Jack Drury was very good and unlucky not to be in the points. Andy Webber and Ben Jennings made up an effective centre partnership that kept the Ensians three quarters quiet. The moment of the game came from a bone crunching tackle from Andy Webber on their 13, who to be fair, got straight up and clattered big Neil Gothard. No mention of individuals in the pack - we played as a 'pack' which is the best compliment we can have. We looked after each other and worked as a unit.

Sheffield Oaks next week - lets get back on to winning ways.

Sprott