Doncaster Knights 25 Otley 15
Knights make hard work of bonus point win
This was a match that everyone expected the Knights to win. Over lunch one Otley grandee even went as far as to predict a 50 point margin. Betfred said 16 and there were many who laid good money on that. However, it is increasingly obvious in this division that unpredictable results are likely each week and with an hour gone, Otley were 18-15 ahead and the Knights were struggling to overcome an obdurate side who came with, and stuck to, a spoiling game plan – not always legal – that their hosts found difficult to overcome.
Clive Griffiths made changes this week. Paul Bailey found himself on the bench, with Anthony Carter debuting at full back and Wes Davies on the wing. Ben Phillips and Netani Talei also had first starts in the pack, which continued to miss Glen Kenworthy. The opening minutes seemed to bode well for the Knights who set up camp in Otley territory and looked threatening. But errors lost chances of an early score. A 5 metre line out saw the ball knocked on in the ensuing maul: an attacking 5 metre scrum was penalised for boring in; and unnecessary use of the boot at an attacking ruck saw another go begging. Released from the pressure Otley worked upfield and when the impressive Meiea Maifea found open space and only a prop against him, he had no bother running round him to release Matt Stockdale into the right corner for a well worked try. The crowd were stunned. Surely the players would react immediately! They did, and again forced attacking situations, but again threw them away with mistakes. Penalties were being conceded regularly in the Otley defence, and from one Mark Woodrow elected to go to the corner, but unbelievably kicked the ball dead. Another penalty, and Netani Talei took a quick one only to knock on in the process. A line out throw was delayed too long and a free kick conceded. All of this and not yet 20 minutes on the clock. Finally, a good piece of work by the backs up the left side created another attacking platform: again Otley conceded the penalty in their ’22 and again Woodrow went to the corner. This time the ensuing maul was efficient and although the initial drive was repelled, the secondary saw Glen Wilson powered over for a score against his old club. Woodrow couldn’t add the extras but the score was level. Otley should have gone ahead when the home side were offside in their ’22 but Andy Brown’s kick from near in front hit the right hand post and Jason Forster had the presence of mind to see it safely cleared. Brown got another chance within 5 minutes though: Carter’s kick upfield went directly to touch and a penalty after the ensuing line out put Otley ahead. The last act of the half saw the first really cohesive attack by the home side through many phases of play, but rather typical of what had gone before the move ended with a Luke Gross knock on. In all there had been eight clear errors when in commanding positions, and some poor kicking from hand. Equally, the penalty count against Otley in defence was too high for there have been no sight of the yellow card, despite warning of it from an over sympathetic referee.
When everyone expected the Knights to come out fired up and assert themselves, Otley had other ideas and had scored within a minute of the restart! The took the advantage on offer from a line out play, set up a ruck and from quick ball Ian Shuttleworth darted through a gap and when stopped yards short, offloaded well to James Tiffany coming in support at pace and crashing over for the try. Brown added to it, the lead was ten points, and the feeling of a shock result began to spread around the ground. Quickly, though, three points were taken by Woodrow after a good move involving backs and forwards took play into the Otley ’22 where they again conceded the inevitable penalty. A moment of pure comedy lightened the afternoon when Bunting pulled back Danny Smith as he chased a kick, only for the diminutive winger to turn round and punch the much larger Bunting full in the face. Bunny could only smile in retaliation and it was probably for Smith’s personal safely that he was allowed to hide in the sin bin for ten minutes! The more serious side of this for Otley, though, was that it gave the Knights’ pack an opportunity to use the man advantage at an attacking maul which was powered over the line and, inevitably, it was Forster who scored the touchdown in the corner, too wide for Woodrow to level the scores. Woodrow, after a surge upfield by Gross, did put a delightful cross field kick to the completely unmarked Donovan Van Vuuren who only had to trap the ball with a foot, collect and score; but he snatched at the ball and knocked it on when it looked easier to score! But the third try did eventually come and it was once again the driven line out maul that bore fruit. Again the initial drive was defended illegally – collapsed – but the referee played advantage and Simon Bunting was on hand to touch down for his first try for the club. Again the extras couldn’t be added but at last a lead had been established. That lead was nearly lost in what would have been a moment of high controversy. Deep in his own ’22, Shuttleworth ran the ball and passed forward to Brown. The TJ on that side called “forward” frantically into his microphone but it wasn’t heard against the roar of the crowd who witnessed it. Otley were quickly at the other end and Steve Parsons clear on the right for what looked like a certain try; but with the covering tackle of the season, Forster somehow got there to force Parsons into touch inches short of the line. The hit was so hard that poor Parsons next move was to visit hospital with what looked like a shoulder injury. Otley almost got away a second time, only the bounce beating Smith who knocked on with clear space ahead of him. It was an absorbing finale, with the game able to go either way. Increasingly, though, Otley tired as the Knights seemed to get stronger and put in extra effort to get the bonus point try. Ben Jones made a superb break, Wes Davies took it further before offloading to Spencer Davey and his valiant effort to score was only halted by great defence by Shuttleworth who held him up in goal. Otley were causing frustration by continually stopping the game for “injury” but referee Chris Sharp was alive to the tactic and kept stopping his watch. Eight minutes of stoppage time were added and in the fifth of those the try finally came. The pack drove upfield with great hands and support play – again Otley offended – but advantage was played, Wilson was stopped just short but quick recycled ball to the right saw Wes Davies cut a nice line through the defence, leaving Jon Benson, on as a replacement a simple kick to add the two extra. Even then there was time for a Dave Scully cameo, also on against his old club, to almost break clear after Wilson had set up the chance, but perhaps typical of what had gone before for the first hour, a knock on brought play, and the match, to a close.
Clive Griffiths was pleased to get the bonus point win. “We got there in the end” was his reflective view. The team did not play anywhere near their potential but ground out the result. Otley deserve credit for a stubborn spoiling game plan that was effective and only the meanest home supporter would deny they deserved something from the game. Meanwhile the Knights now face successive trips to the Midlands with Birmingham & Solihull first up. The “A” team, who won 22-6 at Otley, included Simon Grainger, Ryan Peacey, John Rawson, John Boden and Rob Worrincy in their number, all looking to attract Griffiths’ attention in the weeks ahead. And the best sight of the day may have been John Cannon running before the match and working hard in the gym. He reckons he is now 3-4 weeks away from match fitness and is raring to get his season under way.
Knights: Carter, Van Vuuren, Hunt, Davey, Davies W, Woodrow (Benson 63), Jones (Scully 69), Bunting, Phillips (Boden 70), Tau (Davies T 46), Gross, Cook, Talei (Earnshaw 53), Forster, Wilson.
Otley: Shuttleworth, Parsons (Xavier 65), Dench, Mooney (Kitching 40), Smith, Monks, Brown, Livesey (Fear 52), Steele, Turner, Whitehead (Parr 54), Williams, Tiffany, Stockdale, Maifea (Edwards 73).
Referee: C Sharp (RFU)
This picture of Spencer Davey is courtesy of Brian Pollard. |
