Hull Ionians 22 v 45 Otley.
Otley removed any arithmetic chance of relegation and thoroughly outplayed Ionians in a dominant display at Brantingham Park. They outscored the hosts seven tries to three; out-thinking, outmuscling and at times over-running them. They didn’t have to play that well, Ionians were woeful.
Even though it was the penultimate game of the season and there was nothing resting on the result for the home side, there was no excuse for the level of performance. Wearing a first team shirt doesn’t make anyone a first team player, there is a standard expected at level 4 and this wasn’t it.
Ionians made a promising enough start, though worryingly there were overtones of the previous week, and some of the passing was speculative at best. Ambition certainly exceeded ability. They were, however, first to score when George Mewburn dotted down at the back of a driving maul. Lewis Minikin put over a beauty of a conversion for a 7-point advantage.
It was 20 minutes before Otley fashioned a reply. A good break and dummy got the visitors close to the line and the forwards battled away until Ian Jarman burrowed over from close range. Callum Irvine failed to find the target, so it was 7 -5 at the water break.
Minikin stretched the lead with a well struck penalty but Otley went in front minutes late with a gift of a try when Adam Malthouse was allowed to stumble his way through the Ionians pack to go over under the posts. Irvine made no mistake with the routine conversion.
There was no soap opera this week, just elements of farce. Ionians were penalised on half way for holding on, Otley went for touch but failed to win clean line-out ball. Ionians had possession and just gave it away, then fluffed an easy chance to clear an Otley kick. Winger Josh Sarfield won an arial challenge despite being second favourite, before setting up Jacob Holmes for a try.
If anything exemplified Ionians afternoon it was the next passage of play. Minikin made a break and Cam Burnhill ran an absolutely fantastic line in support, to take the pass and scorch through the Otley backline. He stepped inside a would-be tackler and got to the try line only to cock up the score. Unbelievable.
Ionians continued to disappoint after the break; forward passes, dropped balls, missed tackles and general sloppy play contributed to the frustration, if not of the players then certainly of the home supporters.
Otley increasingly looked the better side. Eddie Crossland put in a great run and even though it came to naught it was an ominous sign and sure enough Otley then cut straight through the mid-field for an easy, all too easy, try for Scott Irvine. Callum Irvine’s conversion put the black and whites two scores clear, 10 -24.
Ionians clawed a try back when Ben Stephenson crossed for the first of his two tries (a just reward for one of the few who maintained acceptable standards). Otley shrugged it off as a minor inconvenience and scrum-half Sam Connor dummied his way through to create space for a clear run to the line. Irvine added the extras for a healthy 15 – 31 lead.
If what had gone on in the opening hour was poor, the next couple of minutes were risible. A text book driving maul put Ionians within a couple of yards of the Otley line. The ball was well protected at the back, the maul was inching forwards and a try looked a certainty. But no, the maul parted like the Red sea and Otley nicked the ball and broke away.
Within seconds Otley took play the length of the field and Irvine scored the visitors sixth try and unsurprisingly kicked the conversion.
They weren’t done either. Two minutes later they were back for their final points of the day. A line-out was cleanly taken and the pack drove over for a try for the industrious George Lunn. Crossland kicked the goal to stretch the lead to an unassailable 30 points, 15 – 45.
Right at the death Ionians got over for a consolation push over try, Stephenson credited with the points. It is difficult to see who gained any solace from it though, certainly not any of the I’s spectators I passed nor the incandescent coach, Mal Holden.