It was a similar situation at Cross Green earlier in the season, when Stephen Depledge went over in the 80th minute denying Caldy a win. It was much improved performance this week by Otley, who spent nearly all of the game ahead and were unlucky not to take all five points.

Caldy kicked off with the wind on their backs and showed their intent early with good ball control. However it was Otley who were on the scoreboard first after good play by the Otley lads. This allowed returnee Freddie Watson, playing his first game of the season, to score his first try for Otley. Caldy scored three minutes later when Gavin Roberts weaved his way to the posts, and Richard Vasey converted.

The hosts’ lead was short-lived, as Tom O’Donnell charged his way through their defence to go under the posts and replacement kicker Chris Gemmell added the conversion. Running back the restart, Caldy lost control and an Otley boot sent the ball down field. Harry Hudson set out in pursuit, outrunning closer defenders and hacked the ball to the line before placing it in the touch down area.

The scorers were untroubled until just after the half hour when Craig Ross went over for the hosts in the corner. Just before the break, Otley were pressurizing the Caldy which first resulted in a yellow card for Caldy’s lock followed by a penalty which Chris Gemmell put through the posts. This made the half time score 12-20.

The second half saw just enough rain to make it an even more difficult game for both sides, and with the wind now in Otley’s faces, it was the hosts which took advantage. On 61 minutes, Caldy scored after John Broxon passed the ball to Nyle Davidson who broke through two tackles to score, Vasey converted. Three minutes later Chris Gemmell went in for a try, only for Caldy full back Andrew Souter found space out wide and was allowed to run towards the posts and score. Vasey kicked the conversion for Caldy, and they managed to repel Otley’s final advances for the last five minutes.

A god time was had by the travelling fans, the hosts were very friendly and accommodating. Hopefully we can look forward to playing them again next season.