Cambridge 31 Otley 3: Otley lack a finishing touch
It was 33 minutes before they trusted their backs with any possession.
Otley were doing sterling work in defence and produced the first bright note of the game on 35 minutes when fly-half Chris Georgiou saw a gap on his 22 to make 50 metres before being halted.
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Hide AdThere was good support and centre Ben Hough was just wide with a drop-goal attempt. Otley, however, had begun to flourish and Hough took them into an unlikely lead with a 36-metre penalty just on half-time.
With Cambridge beginning to expand their play, Otley were also able to show some prowess and attacked with style but failed to make the final breakthrough and the home side began to find the openings.
Fly-half Lloyd Cole was given a simple penalty chance on 43 minutes and South African winger Johannes Schmidt went powerfully in at the corner soon after.
Cole added a second penalty and converted William Martin's try when the winger was put away from a tap penalty.
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Hide AdFollowing a third penalty by Cole, Otley lost a lineout and Schmidt came up the blind-side to race over.
The home pack finally made their mark when, after a series of scrums on the Otley line, lock Dan Legge was driven over for the final try of the game to leave Otley third from bottom.