Hull Ionians 34 v 39 Otley

Sometimes it’s difficult to know what to say; no-one wants to rub salt into a wound but if by doing so it smarts, then it may do some good. Whether they deserved to or not, after 79 minutes of play, Ionians should have held on to a win.
After taking an early lead the hosts let it slip, but fought back to be all square at the break. They fell behind again, but two tries in quick succession looked to have given them enough of a lead to see them through to the final whistle.
Even conceding a late try wasn’t a fatal blow; they still held the narrowest of advantages, all it needed was sensible game management and 90 seconds of resolution. Ionians were unable to provide either.
The re-start kick went to the one area it should not have done. Otley had played the entire game as if they could play themselves out of trouble and they could not believe their luck. The ball fell straight to Sam Waddington (the stand out forward on the pitch), stood in mid field and in acres of space. Ionians only hope was that he would drop it.
He didn’t, he set off up field with purpose, to stride to the 10m line before passing to Ed Crossland, the pick of all the players on the pitch, and he popped the ball out of the tackle to give his backs the space to race away down the stand-side touch, quick transfer had Ben Dinsdale crossing in the blink of an eye and led to jubilation amongst the Otley players. Justifiably so.
It could have been so different. Ionians made a flying start; Charlie Kirk looked to be going over for a try in the opening minute but slipped on the sodden surface. Ionians were able to keep the ball alive and Joe Martin swept the ball out to James Sanderson, who powered over.
Joe Rowntree cut the arrears with a penalty and, as Otley continued to have the better of play, he stroked over another kick to nudge the visitors into the lead. Before Ionians had time to re-group George Bowen went in for Otley’s first try, bursting straight through the home defence to dot down under the posts. Rowntree added the extras and Otley led 5 -13.
Ionians had parity in the scrum and were functioning well at the line-out and they put together a decent passage of play for Ally Forth to finish off a forwards drive with a try, Lewis Minikin kicked well from out wide to bring Ionians to within a point. He then stepped up to goal a long-range penalty for the hosts to shade it at 15 – 13, with 25 minutes played.
Otley were keen to throw the ball about, given plenty of encouragement by some woeful tackling from the home side, and they re-took the lead when the perennially dangerous Louis Martin broke away, chipped ahead and re-gathered under very little pressure to go in for a try. Rowntree was on point from the tee to nudge the visitors back in front.
As the break approached Sam Pocklington pounced on a mistake on the far touch, gathering the loose ball to race away and win the 40m sprint to the line. All even at oranges.
Ionians made just the start to the second half that they would have wanted, except, just like many a GB Eurovision entry, they came away with nil points. Ten minutes camped deep in enemy territory and nothing to show for it. Even when Waddington was sent to the bin Ionians couldn’t press home their advantage.
It was Otley who made light of the situation when Crossland again exposed the hosts frailty in mid-field, dummying his way over the line from 20m out and then tagging on the conversion to push them 20 – 27 in front.
Ionians introduced a quartet of fresh legs onto the field, including the welcome return of Ben Stephenson, and saw a quick change in fortunes. Aided by the 10-minute departure of Sam Hodge, Ionians went to the corner and a catch and drive resulted in a try to Stephenson. Minikin added the goal to, once again, tie the scores and give Ionians the fillip of a bonus point.
Ionians then put a bit of day-light between themselves and the opposition. Will Yates fielded a clearance kick and set off on a good run through the Otley rearguard. His pass didn’t match the approach play but Josh Britton hacked it on and dropped on the ball over the line. Minikin’s fourth success off the tee put the hosts 34 – 27 to the good with 10 minutes to go.
Ionians looked to be seeing the game out, though Otley never seemed done. As the game entered the final throes Martin went on a diagonal run that appeared to be a decisive break for the visitors until George Mewburn pulled off an exemplary try saving cover tackle. Something in the following play, hidden in the gloom, attracted the ire of the referee and (harshly) Mewburn was despatched to the side-lines. Otley took full advantage and after heeling the scrum swept the ball wide for Martin to cross in the opposite corner. The conversion sailed wide, giving Ionians a precarious two point advantage, but there was only a minute to play. What happened next is history…
If Otley consistently played themselves out of trouble, then Ionians did the polar opposite. These results puncture confidence but the players have it in their hands to change their fortunes, hopefully starting next week with the visit of Hull. There can be few better incentives.

Rugby Paper report -
With a half time score of 20 all and then when Hull Ionians scored on 65 minutes by Ben Stephenson converted by Lewis Minikin then scored again 3 minutes later by Josh Britton, again converted, to take a 34-27 lead Hull Ionians should have had the game won. But a second try in the corner by Louis Martin in the corner on 78 minutes and a break away try from their own 22 by Ben Dinsdale in the 81st minute saw Otley take the spoils.
Good early pressure saw Hull Ionians Captain James Sanderson score in the corner, but two Joe Rowntree penalties saw Otley take the lead, increased when a break by Saw Waddington saw George Bowen score.
Hull Ionians came back and a push over try by Ally Forth and conversion and penalty by Minikin saw them lead 14-13. Otley struck back when a chip and chase saw Martin score his first, Rowntree again converting, before a dropped Otley pass saw Sam Pocklington race away to level the scores.
Otley sored first after the break when sustained pressure saw Eddie Crossland cross and convert then Hull Ionians 3rd attempt at driving over from penalty line-outs saw Ben Stephenson score, an earlier score by Joe Makin ruled out for apparently being held up, Minikin converting to level the scores, before the final minutes changed the result.

The above report is that submitted to the Rugby Paper, Mally will write his own review of the match later.