Otley storm back to claim derby honours as Greens and Tigers slip towards trouble

Harrogate raced into a 10-0 lead inside 10 minutes with scrum-half Danny Matthews kicking a penalty before converting full-back Oli Rosillo’s try.

But prop Luke Chadwick touched down and some good kicking from full-back Tom Hodson saw Otley lead 16-10 at half-time.

A try from centre Henry Roberts after the break, along with a Hodson penalty and conversion saw them stretch the lead to 26-10.

A well-constructed move saw substitute Will Morecombe come into the line and deliver a scoring pass to Jonny Giles who applied the finishing touch for 26-15. The touchline conversion attempt was narrowly off target, and although Harrogate continued to attack throughout the closing stages, Otley’s defence held out for victory.

Elsewhere, Sheffield Tigers lost 25-13 at South Leicester.

Jamie Broadley went over for the visitors with Angus Bowyer kicking eight points in a closely-fought contest.

Despite a more encouraging overall performance, Tigers have now lost seven straight games and need to turn things around to get out of relegation trouble.

Wharfedale remain firmly in the relegation picture, and were comfortably beaten at high-flyers Caldy 59-12.

The hosts ran in nine tries to go nine points clear at the top of the table.

Robbie Davidson did get the visitors on the board scoring twice in a frantic first half, but like the Sheffield Tigers, Wharfedale sit three points from the bottom of the table.

Hull Ionians could not build on last week’s victory against Rosslyn Park, as they were edged out 15-13 at mid-table Old Albanians.

In a closely fought game, Joe Allott had given Ionians a first half lead, but they trailed at the break 8-5.

Ionians conceded a second try after the break and after scoring a penalty they went over for a late try, but a conversion to tie the game was missed leaving the visitors with just a losing bonus point from the game.

Tries from second row Martyn Mitchell and Elliot Morgan helped Ilkley to a 20-12 win over Yorkshire rivals Morley, with Joe Rowntree kicking both conversions and two penalties.

Huddersfield made it 14 straight league wins in National Three North as they ran out 41-15 winners at Doncaster Phoenix.

Full back Elliot Hodgson scored a hat-trick and Lewis Workman scored two, as Huddersfield maintained their perfect start to the season.

The game also doubled up as a Yorkshire Cup game, with Huddersfield advancing to the next round.

Hull leap-frogged opponents Billingham into fourth place after a 38-7 away win.

Harvey Harding, Lee Birch, Joe Stafford, Alex Heard and Lee Brown all scored tries to earn Hull maximum points, and Tomasi Tanumi added 13 points with the boot.

In the same league, Sandal recorded an impressive win to close the gap to Wirral in third place to just three points with a 35-24 victory.

Sam Whittingham, Dom Fawcett, Dec Thompson and Tom Coad gave the hosts maximum points with a 35-12 lead.

Elsewhere, Cleckheaton were 50-17 winners at bottom of the league Stockport.

Sheffield lost top spot in National Three Midland as they went down 31-14 at Birmingham Solihull. Steve Depledge did put Sheffield ahead with an early try and Andy Hodgson also went over but Birmingham pulled away with fifteen minutes to play thanks to two Danny Wright tries.

Huddersfield YMCA took victory in North One East, beating Dinnington 20-17 after being awarded a penalty try in the dying seconds of the 
game.

And Pocklington ran out 38-0 winners over Driffield in an East Yorkshire derby, with scrum-half Ben Rees, No 8 Jack Holbrough, second row Tom Peters, full-back Jack Fletcher and winger Tim Nixon scoring their tries.

Yarnbury moved off the bottom of Yorkshire One after a 32-7 home win over North Ribblesdale, Jason Fogg and Nathan Benton scored two tries apiece for the hosts.