Report by: Nick Doyle

SAM Taylor scored three tries in Otley’s highest league score against Preston Grasshoppers, helping to secure his side their first win of the season.

For the first twenty minutes Otley had the territorial advantage, but it was Preston who opened the scoring with a try after seven minutes having missed an earlier penalty attempt. Otley were caught offside in Hoppers 22, a quick tap and go saw Ally Murray eat up the miles before passing to winger Tyler Spence who scored in the right-hand corner. Having pinched a Preston line-out, Otley then ceded one to the hosts just inside their half, hooker Jack Wilkinson running from the ten metre line being tackled just as he went over. Alex Ward’s conversion brought the first quarter to an end with the score at 13-0.

Otley’s pack were beginning to dominate the scrum, and a period inside Hopper’s 22 saw Dan Preston-Routledge being pushed back as he tried to force his way over the line. The ball was recycled, but the move ended when two Otley players crossed. The visitors were soon back in Preston’s redzone, Ryan Gibson nicked the Preston line-out and a stand-up tackle gave Eddie Crossland a 30 metre kick in front of the posts which he got.

A rolling maul took Preston into Otley’s 22 but Otley were able to get the ball back at the breakdown to clear their lines. Back in the 22, Preston held onto the ball for too long after which play moving back into the opposition half. Alongside the right-hand touchline Clark Wells was taken out by Ed Keohane earning him a yellow. Crossland kicked into the corner and after Preston infringed twice Otley opted for scrums, Ben Waddington taking the ball from the back of the scrum and force his way over. Crossland’s conversion heralded the half-time whistle.

Crossland collected his 50:22 a minute into the second half from the touch-line, throwing the ball to Sam Taylor who scored close to the posts giving Otley the lead for the first time. From the half-way line Otley had to retreat to their 22 with the ball before moving forward. Once in Hoppers’ half, Crossland made it into their 22 and two passes later Taylor had his second with Crossland converting his third after 45 minutes.

After an incursion into Otley’s half by Alex Ward, Louis Martin forced a scrum out of the hosts with play then returning to the Hoppers’ half. Good interplay took the play back into the Preston 22, where a high tackle gave Otley a five metre line-out. Having stabilised the maul, Otley pushed their way over with Leon Mudd the scorer.

Now 19 points behind, Preston found their way back into the game with two converted tries within four minutes. Their first came after an infringement by Otley outside their 22, Preston kicking to the left-hand corner. Ally Murray’s long reach stretched across the line for a try. Their second came from a line-out further out with 15 minutes to go, the forward doing the initial work before No 10 Alex Ward came in at speed to take Keohane’s pass ten metres out to score.

Otley took the losing bonus point off Preston three minutes later with a Crossland penalty wide out on their 22. They made sure of their five points with four minutes to go, Otley getting to the Preston 22 with a penalty kick, Taylor running through their defence to score under the posts. Crossland’s conversion took his tally to 16 on his 50th appearance for Otley.

With ninety seconds to go, a Preston penalty kick to the corner went dead and then Otley wound down the clock with Rory Gaffney ending the game kicking the ball over the clubhouse.