A good performance against Stourbridge the previous week had put Hull in a good frame of mind for their visit to Cross Green this Saturday. But they came up against an Otley side that had all performed well against the league’s top three sides without much reward. Mark Ireland moved across into the number 10 shirt to replace the injured Ben Fairclough, and his place was taken by returnee Michael Coady.

Hull were met with a stone-wall defence which was not breached, something that Otley have not achieved for six years when they beat Blackheath 48-0 at Cross Green. Hull had no answer to an excellent all-round performance in which they were hit from every angle, Otley’s flanker Tom O’Donnell was at his hole-punching best.

The first try came after only four minutes. Otley, starting in their 22 swept their way up-field, full back Arnie Ellison coming up to find the gap to go through in the clubhouse corner. Hull hung on for a further quarter of an hour against a barrage of attacks but were finally breached. Following a flowing move from a line-out which was worked across the back line giving winger Nazir Karim a run-in at the scoreboard corner for his eleventh try of the season.

Sensing that something special might be on the cards, the Cross Green faithful only had to wait five minutes before the scorers were called back into action. Arnie Ellison was able to gather the ball following a Hull breakdown and then ran through their defence, before passing to Harry Hudson. Streaking up the pitch a further pass to Stephen Depledge gave him an easy run-in to the line. Mark Ireland slotted the conversion.

The important fourth try came on 28 minutes. An Otley penalty was put deep into the opposition and, after a long rolling maul, the ball was sent out to centre James White, a threat all afternoon, who powered his way over. Mark Ireland’s conversion took the score to 24-0 before the half hour mark. Hull did test Otley at times with their No 8 Max Argyle and scrum-half William Haddow combining well, but inevitably Hull’s attacks were unable to scale Otley’s defence.

Eight minutes into the second half Otley stretched their lead when Hull were driven back from a line-out giving Ben Steele the opportunity to score his second try of the season. Four minutes later Hull’s replacement Dominic Lespierre was yellow carded, and Hull managed to keep their line intact until the ninth minute of his suspension. However Otley wanted more, and Stephen Depledge was able to get the ball away from an Otley scrum to Harry Hudson who sent the ball onto flanker Matthew Heaton to finish off another superb move.

The final try after 72 minutes, the seventh, came from a blind-side run from a scrum. Stephen Depledge delayed the pass to Harry Hudson who was then able to get the ball across to lock Jack Scott-Paul coming up for an inside pass, giving him a free run to the line. Mark Ireland converted all the tries in the second half.

This emphatic win ensures N2N rugby for the 2014-15 season, and moves Otley to 12th in the league. The only downside in the game was that Nazir Karim was injured and will miss the last game of the season when Otley go to Bromsgrove on the 26th. Bromsgrove’s relegation was confirmed last month and this could be the final game between the two sides, given the possible changes being proposed by the RFU.