Whilst Otley’s tough reputation, particularly up front, was well-known going into the game, the last thing anyone expected was a scrambled Harlequins win in the dying seconds of injury time.

Whatever the anticipated result, the match was certainly being hyped-up in Otley long before kick-off. Quins will have to get used to the fact that every one of their away matches this season is going to be regarded as the biggest fixture of the home side’s calendar, subject to relegation and promotion issues towards the finale. At 3pm the home crowd may have been expecting a loss at the end of play, but they knew their team was capable of making a real fight of it and, in that respect, none of them would have gone home disappointed.

Following the kick-off from Otley’s fly-half, Simon Binns, the mood of the first half was set within two minutes when Quins gave away the first of several penalties from the scrum. Binns kicked for touch and Quins stole the resulting line-out ball only for Vass to knock on. The Otley front row forced another penalty from the scrum but the tap was quickly taken and Quins managed to turn the ball over to regain possession. Mehrtens found a long touch, but Easter lost the ball in the tackle despite more decent line-out work and Otley cleared from the resulting scrum.

Despite glimmers of quality from the back line, errors and poor discipline in the forwards handed the ball back to Otley and Binns pinned the visitors back in their 22. Another penalty went Otley’s way and Binns eschewed a kickable opportunity to go for the corner and the home crowd became a bit more vocal, enjoying their team’s optimism. However, Quins won the ball five metres out but a forward pass from Greenwood on the following break returned possession to Otley.

Ultimately, kicks from Mehrts and Vass took Quins back up towards half-way, but the Otley front-row were dominating the forwards battle and another penalty given away at the scrum reapplied the pressure. Luffman’s throw at the line-out wasn’t straight, however, and Quins made use of the ball from the scrum, Easter driving forwards and the ball being recycled, although the Otley pack did a good job of slowing it down. The home side were penalised for diving over and Mehrts had his first chance to put points on the board but the kick appeared to drift right and the score remained 0-0 after 20 minutes.

Following the drop-out, Duffy tried the kick and chase, but Otley cleared to touch and won yet another penalty at the scrum after Fuga failed to produce straight line-out ball. Binns sent the ball back up to Quins’ 10 metre line but a Mehrtens cross-kick found George Harder, producing the best play of the game. Unfortunately, the threatening move that resulted was closed down by the Otley backs, whose tackling remained ferocious throughout.

On 26 minutes another penalty allowed Binns to clear to half-way, but Otley knocked-on from the line-out and Easter picked up from the base of the scrum for another driving run. Otley gave away a penalty at the breakdown and Mehrtens made sure of the points. 3-0 to the Quins on 29 minutes and things were looking rather more steady that they had done earlier.

Quins continued with a reasonable spell of play following the penalty, forcing errors from the Otley forwards, but a promising move in the centre came to an abrupt halt when Greenwood, who was shaping up for a bit of a nightmare, passed forwards. Another knock-on and within minutes the momentum had swung back to Otley. A sneaky chip through saw Ugo racing back to touch down behind the Quins line. Worse was to come, however, as a fluffed clearance from Mehrtens fell straight to the Otley winger, Rob Whatmuff, who dashed over the line to score in the corner. Binns missed the conversion and the teams went back to the dressing-rooms 5-3 to Otley with the majority of the 3,400 crowd going ballistic.

Quins started the second half in more positive fashion but more failings at the breakdown, both in discipline and ball-retention on the ground, undid the hard work. Another aspect of Otley’s spoiling game-plan revealed itself in the first of a number of appearances by the team physio, who seemed to have no other purpose than to slow the game down whilst entertaining the male sections of the crowd through her lack of meaningful support. The Quins backs’ poor handling was exposed again when Jordan Turner-Hall knocked-on and the Otley forwards went about their business. Tani Fuga appeared to come off worst in one passage of play and the following pressure from Otley saw Luffman go over for their second try. Binns made no mistake with the conversion and Otley led 12-3 after 55 minutes.

Keogh came on for Harder shortly afterwards, but the Quins handling in the loose remained sloppy and a good position in the Otley 22 was surrendered by a knock-on from Vass. However, Mehrtens brought the score up to 12-6 with another penalty but more errors from Quins provided Binns with another opportunity almost immediately after the restart and Otley regained their nine-point lead with the scores at 15-6 on 65 minutes. Some better play and more phases of ball followed from Quins but another knock-on from Greenwood saw him subbed for Mel Deane on 69 minutes to the delight of the home fans. However, a poor clearance from the Otley full-back saw Vos drive over the line from the line-out for Quins’ first try and, whilst Mehrtens missed the conversion, the visitors were back in contention at 15-11.

Otley won the ball back from the restart but Waisale Sovatabua was turned over and the Quins back produced some better play with Ugo making a good run down the wing only to run into more solid Otley defence. However, another knock-on from Turner-Hall and a horribly wayward pass from Mehrtens saw poor handling hand the initiative back to Otley.

As the clock moved past 80 minutes, Otley were ultimately undone by their strategy of slowing the game down to spoil the more expansive game that Quins had been looking to play. The five minutes added was enough for Quins to drive back into the Otley 22 and Mehrtens showed his class, releasing Mel Deane on a scything run through the Otley defence to silence the home crowd. Mehrts converted the try to leave the visitors relieved at 15-18 with four points in the bag.

The result didn’t seem to dampen the home fans’ spirits for long, however, and the post-match hospitality was superb. The general consensus seemed to be that Otley had a lot to be proud of, having been seconds away from causing a serious upset, and that the result would have been taken if it had been offered before the match. It was good to see all the players enjoying a drink with the fans in the bars and it was only after all of the Black Sheep and Tetley’s had been drunk that those of us lucky enough not to have to take the coaches back to London ventured out into town to the Junction and the Bowling Green where the locals remained just as pleased with the event and just as keen to witness the return match. It seems that the Stoop can expect to play host to a lot of black shirts on 14 January.

NEC Harlequins
Mike Worsley (Lorne Ward ,40 mins), Tani Fuga (Jimmy Richards ,54 mins), Ricky Nebbett, Jim Evans, Simon Miall, Andre Vos, Luke Sherriff, Nick Easter, Ian Vass, Andrew Mehrtens, Ugo Monye, Jordan Turner-Hall, Will Greenwood (Mel Deane ,69 mins), George Harder (Simon Keogh ,56 mins), Gavin Duffy.
Replacements: Jimmy Richards (Tani Fuga ,54 mins), Lorne Ward (Mike Worsley ,40 mins), Pablo Bouza, Tony Diprose, Simon Keogh (George Harder ,56 mins), Adrian Jarvis, Mel Deane (Will Greenwood ,69 mins)

Otley RUFC
Justin Wring, Mark Luffman, Kris Fullman, Paul Williams, Howard Parr, James Tiffany, Nathan Bland (Matt Stockdale ,56 mins), Glen Wilson, Dave Scully (Andy Brown ,80 mins), Simon Binns, Waisale Sovatabua (Robin Kitching ,79 mins), Paul Mooney, Chris Hyndman, Rob Whatmuff, Tom Rock.
Replacements: Ben Fear, Matt Stockdale (Nathan Bland ,56 mins), Scott Connor, Andy Brown (Dave Scully ,80 mins), Robin Kitching (Waisale Sovatabua ,79 mins), Richard Pike, Duncan Sayers

Scores:
Otley: Tries: Mark Luffman, Rob Whatmuff; Conversion: Simon Binns (1); Penalties: Simon Binns (1)
NEC Harlequins: Tries: Andre Vos, Mel Deane; Conversion: Andrew Mehrtens (1); Penalties: Andrew Mehrtens (2)

Final score: 15 (5)-18 (3).

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