Otley showed a real desire to beat second placed Billingham after two close victories, and came away with a convincing victory and bonus point to stretch their lead at the top of the table.

However, it was the visitors who scored first after four minutes. Otley having conceded a penalty in their 22 for holding onto the ball, fell to a Peter Evans drop goal after a couple of pick and goes. Having absorbed another assault, Otley got into Billingham’s half and were awarded a penalty for holding on, but the kick was wide. Having gathered the ball from the restart, Otley moved the ball through the hands with Callum Irvine making the break from within his own half. Billingham failed to tackle him after which he passed the ball to Alex Beaumont on the right flank who continued the move to score after 12 minutes.

A charge-down in the Otley 22 after the restart gave them a fright, but they soon recovered and were able to clear their lines. Billingham were unable to secure possession at the line-out giving Otley a scrum. From that scrum and from within his own half Irvine ran to the opposition posts unimpeded to dive over, giving Joe Rowntree his second conversion.

A period of sustained pressure by Billingham was met with fortress defence and Otley were finding it difficult to get out of their half. Having done so, they gave away a penalty and the subsequent move by the visitors stretched Otley when Evans’s cross-field kick just eluded the diving winger Martin Hopley in the clubhouse corner.

Having restarted the game Otley gained a penalty to take them further down the pitch. Having secured the line-out, a 17 phase move saw them work their way deeper into the Billingham half, before kicking it into the right hand corner. Supplemented with two new front rowers, Otley pushed Billingham’s maul back gaining a penalty and Kieran Clark was yellowed carded. Electing for the scrum, Otley moved the ball across the pitch for Elliot Morgan to score. Rowntree’s conversion made the score 21-3 and although Billingham came close to scoring the board remained unchanged.

Otley kicked off to start the second half and as Billingham tried to bring the ball out of their 22 a knock-on gave the impetus back to the hosts. From the scrum, Otley moved the ball left then right, Irvine bagging his second after 42 minutes after quick hands down the line. Rowntree converted the bonus point try. Irvine came close to getting his third shortly afterwards when Billingham threw a long pass close to their line, but the Otley centre was just unable to get his hands on it.

Billingham had possession for a while but their lateral flows didn’t test Otley, a knock-on or turnover did for them. Finally Otley got a penalty in their 22 after Billingham took Tom Coates out illegally at the breakdown. Still in their half, Otley moved the ball across to the left with Ben Magee making the final pass for Morgan to get his second in the scoreboard corner.

With four minutes to go, Billingham got a consolation try after they ripped the ball from Otley’s possession in the tackle just outside the hosts’ 22, Hopley heading straight for the corner. The match ended with Otley in Billingham’s 22, both sides picking up a yellow card, and a line-out by Billingham that wasn’t straight brought the final whistle.