Otley stake their future in youth after surviving drop

Their inability to compete financially in the second tier last year almost destroyed the club and when new director of rugby Gary Walker began pre-season training last July, only two players reported for duty.

After a trying start to the campaign the club's senior team achieved survival thanks to a run of four straight wins prior to this match; although they needed Sedgley Park to defeat Newbury on Saturday to cement their place in National One for next season.

"It was our aim to stay up and it's an achievement to do so because at the start of the season few would have given us a chance," said Walker, who oversees three senior teams and an Under-16s squad.

"The way we approached it was to get some old players who had left to come back, and to integrate the youngsters – from our own ranks and from a our tie-in with Leeds Carnegie – in with them.

"The development of the players and the coaching staff over the season has been a joy to be a part of.

"We have stabilised the club and this season has been like a renewal for all our teams.

"There's a lot of good youngsters coming through, and some of those Under-16s who won the Yorkshire Cup this season might find themselves in the first team in the next couple of years, that's how much we are relying on the youth.

"But that augers well for the future of Otley."

Just down the road at Wharfedale, the focus is on the present.

This win by five tries to two was their 18th of the season, and although they did not do enough to dislodge Cambridge in fifth, it has still been a year of progression for the Greens.

They have unearthed a few gems along the way, in Jason Strange the head coach who succeeded James Tiffany in December, and in Philip Woodhead, a diminutive 18-year-old scrum-half.

Woodhead scored Wharfedale's opening try and set up scores for James Ticknell and Chris Malherbe to edge the visitors ahead at the break. Six minutes into the second half, he settled an edgy contest when he picked up from the base of a scrum and dummied past two players to score.

"He'd been training with the senior team all season but when I saw him in the Colts I said we've got to throw this guy in there," said Strange, who has twinned his playing duties at Leeds with a coaching role at Wharfedale.

"He reminds me of Shane Williams. Shane started as a No 9 and moved onto the wing, that might be the future for Philip.

"People have been saying he's too small but, to me, his size is his advantage. He's a tough kid and he's got great footwork."

Strange will assess his coaching options this week with the pull of his family in Wales a big consideration. He was coy on whether he had thrown his hat in the ring for the post at one of his old club's, Rotherham, but said of Wharfedale: "It's a fantastic, well-run club with great values.

"The players work really hard for each other and to finish sixth with the size of the squad and the budget we have is a real achievement."

The only score Woodhead did not have a hand in was Mark Bedworth's interception try on 72 minutes that ended any hopes of an Otley comeback, despite sustained pressure from the hosts.

Otley bossed possession in the first half but Wharfedale, led by Rob Baldwin and Dan Solomi, were sharper at the breakdown.

The home pack forced Adam Blades over in the first half and Richard Beck burrowed over in the second, but Walker conceded: "Wharfedale were the better side and deserved the win."

Otley scrum-half Stephen Depledge left the field in an ambulance after suffering a head injury but was discharged from hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

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Otley: Georgiou, Twomey (White 45), Denton, Barker, Wilson, Murray, Depledge; Blades (Denman 54), Warner (Steele 54), Quigley, O'Donnell (Morris 47), Ball, Beck (Quinn 67), Walker, Stedman.

Wharfedale: Gray, Ticknell, Malherbe, Hodgson, Dixon (Horsfall 76), Bedworth, Woodhead; Fear, Chivers, Steel (Altham 65), Renton, Rhodes (Allen 61), Maka'afi, Solomi (Brown 76), Baldwin. Unused replacement: Graham.

Referee: A Taylorson.