Aireborough kick off the new year with a big win

Nick Holdsworth made a welcome return from injury after missing the majority of the season, whilst Huw Williams reverted to scrum-half and Alex Davies replaced an ill Stewart Brewer at No 8.

With an almost full strength first team for the first time this season Aireborough began understandably rusty after a three week rugby absence, however after battling with the referee's obscure take on the new scrum law they got into the game and made some well-earned points.

Within 20 minutes Aireborough were up and away with Craig Stanley's combination of quick feet and pure strength helping him touch down for the first try of 2007; player-coach Tony Smith soon followed five minutes later when after receiving the ball from Holdsworth he tricked the winger with a cheeky dummy to run 30 metres before scoring. Both were converted by James Stocker who was linking up well with full-back James Druce in loose play.

Huw Williams was proving to be just as lively as ever, making full use of his now infamous side step and dummy. He offloaded to flanker Nathan Smith who put in the hard yards to cross the whitewash within kicking distance for Stocker, and at 21-0 Aireborough were comfortable at half-time.

After one of many obscure penalties was awarded to Stocksbridge just after the interval the away side were back in the game for a short time when they scored a deserving try through the quick tap.

But, after all this the away side were to become even more embarrassed when Williams made one of his darting runs from the ruck and gave the pass to prop Simon Carbutt who skipped past the winger and full-back to complete his 25 metre run to the try line.

The game plan finally began to click into place and the home side put together some clever phases in which they were unlucky not to score on a number of occasions.

Winger Matthew Osborn glided over for try number five when the team made light work of getting the ball down the line, and after converting the previous Stocker again slotted over the kick.

The last play brought one more try from James Druce and a penalty conversion from Stocker to round off a day where Stuart Davidson caught some great line-out ball, Craig Stanley ran some good lines and Aireborough completed their first double of the season.

Sheffield A 10 Aireborough Dragons 0

Aireborough seconds made the long trip to Sheffield with the intention of continuing their Merit Table campaign against Sheffield Thirds. Unfortunately, the North Division 2 club, decided that their third team was not going to be strong enough to contest the fixture, and so sent out their second XV.

Aireborough soon discovered that they were going to be in for a tough afternoon, as the home side set up camp in the visitors' 22. Strong defence throughout kept Sheffield out for 30 minutes - in the pack the Greenwood and Exley brothers, plus Richie Helm put in some huge hits on their opposition.

It was the same in the backs with the centre partnership of Kinghorn and Pickup knocking back wave after wave of Sheffield attacks. However, Aireborough eventually succumbed to two unconverted tries in the last ten minutes of the half.

Aireborough turned round still believing that they had enough ability to get something from this match.

The big hits continued but Aireborough also began to exert some pressure on the Sheffield line through, most notably, Pickup, Sharp and Clitheroe.

Unfortunately the visitors were not able to turn this into points, and the game finished 10-0 to the home team.

Aireborough came away from the match with their heads held high having put in a huge effort, none more so than Man-of-the-Match Tony Exley.

Questions must now be asked as to why Sheffield, having entered their third XV into this league, have resorted to fulfilling fixtures with their second team.

Wetherby 13 Otliensians 28

The New Year was brought in in emphatic style as Otliensians secured their 11th win of the league campaign, ensuring there was no festive cheer left over for a Wetherby side who are capable of upsetting the odds against any team in the division.

The game opened with Otliensians forcing Wetherby on to the back foot with a series of forward drives and incisive running by the ever dangerous back division. Unfortunately, although Otliensians were much quicker to the ball they were been constantly penalised as their second and third man was adjudged to be handling, even though they were still on their feet.

However, excellent communication by the referee at half-time enabled Otliensians forwards to fully remedy the situation in the second- half but this was not before Wetherby had taken a 6-0 lead after 12 minutes.

Otliensians' forwards were beginning to dominate, their more dynamic approach proving difficult for Wetherby to cope with. Aggression was matched with aggression and after a breakdown in midfield Ratahi snapped up the interception to set Otliensians' backs on a superb bout of inter-passing, culminating in Ratahi supporting and diving over after 22 minutes.

Five minutes later backs and forwards combined in a sweeping 60 metre move, Bonner to the fore, with the Keinhorst brothers exchanging the last four passes for Markus to touch down. The try was converted by Foster for a 12-6 lead.

Wetherby came back with a series of punishing drives, culminating in a five metre scrum, from which they scored on the stroke of half-time, when Smith was off the field for a nasty cut to the face, leaving the half- time score at 13-12 in Wetherby's favour.

The second-half began as the first, with Otliensians dominating possession, pressurising the defence at all turns, leading to two successful Foster penalties within the first five minutes.

The excellent continuity then saw Jon Woods cleverly sprinting down the touchline, then chipping the defence for a close call, and then his brother Tom winning clean line-out ball with Birch setting his backs off on a classic move, Ratahi and Foster as decoys, and Tenniswood feeding Philpott who was tackled just short.

The dye was cast, and waves of Otliensian attacks were raining down on the Wetherby ranks, with Duggan, O'Donnell, Hanogue, Keinhorst and Arbuckle, supplementing the intimidating Bonner to provide quick ball for the incisive Otliensians backs.

This led to Foster touching down in the left corner after 65 minutes.

The phase play continued, and it was left to skipper Smith to score the fourth try, crowning a well constructed victory and consolidating Otliensians' league position at the beginning of 2007.

On a sad note, the match on Saturday was dedicated by the players to the memory of Jimmy Timms, and as a mark of respect each of the first XV took to the field wearing one black sock as part of their kit.

The game was watched by Jimmy's family who had made the long trip over from New Zealand, and our thoughts go out to them as we wish everyone a safe journey back to New Zealand, where Jimmy will be laid to rest in peace at home.

Old Otliensians A 32 Wetherby 5

Wetherby kicked-off and were soon on the atttack but Otliensians seconds soon showed the confidence to play their open game running the ball from deep defensive with forwards and backs linking well.

After three minutes right winger Steve Lofthouse picked up a kick ahead and ran from inside his own half almost making the try line but hooker James Kear was up in support to take the pass and score.

After ten minutes the pack won good ball from a scrum on half way. Brett Tenniswood at scrum-half quickly transferred the ball to No 10 Phil Purnell and with the opposition up really flat put in a smart grubber kick. He followed this up with a tap ahead and Ben Smith picked up and scored wide out after good advantage had been played by the referee.

Wetherby began to disrupt the Otliensians' scrum and to develop some moves of their own and hit back strongly but good tackling from the home side disrupted their attempts and gradually Otliensians picked up the pace again with some good moves with forwards and backs linking well.

Ben Smith and skipper Andy Bower were winning good line-out ball and on 22 minutes, Purnell went on a dummy run fed Tom O'Donnell who ran straight and powerfully before releasing and Dave Smith from full-back made the extra man to score.

Support work from the home side was really first-class and the visitors just had no answer. Just before the break and with a 15 point lead Dale Kennedy, who had played well on the right wing, was replaced by brother Sean.

Wetherby were soon on the attack in the second-half and Otliensians took a little time to work up the tempo but a good sweeping move saw Lofthouse make ground down the left which resulted in a try for Ben Smith.

Directly from the kick off Dave Smith took the ball at pace and burst through a group of Wetherby players. Good ball transfer and support again resulted in a try, this time for Joe Robinson with Ben Newall converting.

Wetherby were far from finished and hit back strongly scoring in the corner. Otliensians went into cruise mode doing enough in defence to just prevent the visitors scoring. Eventually they woke up and in the last few minutes a good sweeping move saw Joe Robinson score his second try.

A really good team effort from the second team to start the New Year.

Old Otliensians B 15 Aireborough B 6

For this derby, Otliensians thirds welcomed back veteran flanker Richard Crossley for his first outing of the season. He deputised at scrum-half with the experienced Peter Gilson moving to fly-half.

From the whistle, it was clear that both sides were keen to spread the ball wide with both sets of backs producing promising moves. In the scrums, the home front row of Dave Beardsley, Steve Robinson and Tom Twist had the edge and the clean ball produced enabled half-backs Crossley and Gilson to give centres Andy Hayward and Brad Young chance to show their paces.

Play remained evenly balanced for 25 minutes until the first scoring opportunity came by way of a penalty to put Aireborough three points ahead. Keen to build on this narrow lead, the visitors' backs ran the ball at every opportunity but strong tackling by Otliensians' back row of John Offer, Alan Garnett and Ray Drake snuffed out threatening moves.

Twice full-back Sean Flesher had to make last ditch tackles to prevent a score. With half-time beckoning, the home side transgressed and a second Aireborough penalty gave them a six point advantage.

Flanker Offer was replaced by Johnny Saunders at the break and Otliensians set off at a cracking pace with strong runs by Tom Twist, Dave Beardsley and Andy Wood. Alan Garnett was producing clean ball from the line-out and the home backs began to pressure the opposition line.

The home pack was now in the ascendancy and a strong drive from ten yards out produced a series of rucks. First Richard Crossley went close and then Peter Gilson dummied his way over for a try. The conversion failed, to leave the home side trailing by 6-5.

Aireborough rallied and only strong defence by centres Hayward and Young and wingers Darren Hamilton and Dan Garnett kept them at bay. However, with Otliensians producing quality ball from rucks and set pieces, fly-half Gilson gained valuable ground with long searching kicks.

The visitors infringed and prop Tom Twist stepped up to convert a penalty to give Otliensians a narrow two point lead.

Both sides continued to play good open rugby but Aireborough were having increasing difficulty coping with the Otliensians' pack. Good drives from Dave Beardsley, Richard Wardak and replacement flanker Alan Harker were stopped on the line. From a resultant scrum, the Otliensians' pack drove strongly towards the line only for Aireborough to cause a collapse. The referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try and prop Tom Twist calmly converted with a drop goal to give the home side a 15-6 advantage.

Encouragingly, skipper Jim McDougall came on for the last ten minutes making his first appearance since injury last October. He and his team mates mounted a strong defence for the last few minutes as the visitors threw everything into attack.

A further score never came and Otliensians were very satisfied with a 15-6 victory against their old opponents in a good spirited game with both sides playing some excellent rugby.

West Park Leeds 23 Ripon 16

West Park completed a valuable league double over their North Yorkshire rivals with a performance that was somewhat more convincing than the winning margin might suggest. Evidence of this is provided by the try count of four to one.

The hosts started brightly, notching two tries inside the opening 15 minutes. For the first forwards and backs combined in a sustained attack, Craig Hardy providing continuity on the outside. The move was held near the Ripon line but when the forwards put the weight on it was powerful fly-half Matt Stevens who emerged from the bottom of the pile with the ball.

More was to follow as another concerted spell of pressure stretched the visitors' defence. The attack looked to have broken down but fullback Nick Nightingale retrieved the situation. When the ball came to Jack Bickerdike the dynamic scrum-half showed a clean pair of heels to beat the cover and race over.

Classy Kiwi fly-half Robbie Rua kept his side in the game with two well-struck penalties in his penultimate appearance before his return to New Zealand. By way of contrast, three different Park kickers could muster only one successful attempt on goal from half a dozen attempts.

Ripon were battling well, taking several scrums against the head but Park were playing some progressive rugby and a half-time lead of 10-6 was a fair reflection.

The lead was extended soon after the re-start when a classic catch and drive saw prop Hardy claim the touchdown on his return to the starting line up.

This was the signal for Ripon to produce their best spell of the match. Their forwards were initially kept at bay by a determined home defence but eventually the damn burst, lock Ian McAra profiting from a quickly taken free-kick to crash over from close range, although there was some doubt about the grounding.

Rua added the conversion and followed up five minutes later with his third penalty to briefly hand his side the advantage.

Jason Whitehead's penalty regained the lead within two minutes, causing the home spectators to wonder why several earlier opportunities had been spurned. Park controlled the final quarter although Ripon never ceased trying with Fijian centre Ben Seru a constant threat in open play.

This was more than balanced by home centre Dave Foreman who made some storming runs through the middle.

The clinching score was created by the pack, Hardy once again playing link man, feeding hard working No 8 Paul Minns who crowned a Man-of-the-Match performance by squeezing in at the corner.

Results elsewhere contrived to strengthen Park's grip on second place. On Saturday they face the tough trip to Pocklington in the next round of what is developing into a fascinating promotion chase involving at least half the sides in the league.