Otley 87 Manchester 3: Otley complete rout in style

Manchester are the fall guys in this division so it was not just the winning which counted but the style in which they achieved victory which was important to Otley as they set about climbing from their own perilous position.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Jan 2010, 11:32 BST
Updated 25th Jan 2010, 11:32 BST

Captain Howard Parr, disregarding a calf injury, took his place in the second row to keep his side concentrating on the job in hand and led magnificently until the 33rd minute when he retired with the result already assured.

The forwards dominated in every department and were responsible for eight of the 13 tries, though only two came from close-in drives.

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It was their excellent support play which captured the eye, never more so than when prop Gareth Denman appeared on the right wing 30 metres out to cut inside one man and race to the corner.

No 7 Chris Walker grabbed four tries, grounding from drives and twice from open play, and back-row partner Joe Barker claimed two, finishing off good short inter-passing and then running in from 30 metres to complete a length-of-the-field move. No 8 Ollie Sredman scored a trademark try, picking up at a scrum 22 metres out to make the line without the need to pass.

The backs were at their entertaining best, fly-half Chris Georgiou side-stepping his way over after four minutes and scrum-half Stephen Depledge scooting over for the final try. Wingers James White and Mark Kirkby added one each and centre Ben Hough, in addition to a try, kicked 11 conversions.

Manchester's Richard Hopkinson kicked a first-half penalty.