Beaumont steps up after brave resistance
OTLEY withstood a second-half siege before a late Alex Beaumont try saw them edge past Chester by the narrowest of margins.
That was after the hosts had led 13-12 at half-time before Michael Craven’s try put Chester back in charge.
Yet Beaumont, who also crossed the whitewash just a minute into the match, had the final say to leave Otley head coach Tom Casson ecstatic.
He said: “I was delighted with the effort shown by the lads in what was a much-improved performance.
“They showed a lot of grit to see off a determined Chester side.”
Having kicked off, the home side were quick out of the traps, Joe Rowntree stealing the ball from Chester, leading to Beaumont scoring in the first minute.
Rowntree converted and, after a failed long-range attempt, had an easier penalty from Chester’s tenmetre line to make the score 10-0 three minutes later.
Chester then started to dominate and Otley were eventually caught offside near their own line.
From the lineout, Chester’s rolling maul saw
Alick Croft go over, Callum Bennett adding the extras.
The visitors took the lead after 22 minutes – having spent time probing Otley’s defence looking for the elusive hole, James Lloyd eventually found it and dived over in the corner.
A 25th-minute high tackle was punished by the boot of Rowntree for a 13-12 home lead and Otley spent the last 10 minutes in the visitors’ half but couldn’t make the territorial advantage count.
After the break, Chester mounted concerted efforts to breach the Otley defence, forcing the home side into errors.
Their breakthrough came when a clearance kick, which Otley should have regained, bounced into Chester hands, with Craven sprinting down the left flank to score.
They nearly scored again when Harrison Vare was taken into touch just before the whitewash, and a series of knock-ons saw the attack fizzle out.
Chester were then encamped in Otley’s half for some 20 minutes, yet the resilience shown by Otley last week at Hinckley stood them in good stead.
They gradually worked their way out of their half, and started to attack the Chester line – coming close to forcing their way over but were penalised for holding on in front of the posts.
Otley’s replacements continued to build momentum and Chester were penalised for holding onto the ball, the penalty going close to Chester’s 22.
From that lineout, Otley spread the ball from one side to the other, with Ben Magee and Josh Hall bthe instigators, which gave Beaumont room to cross in the corner with just seven minutes to go.
Otley continued to press and forced errors out of Chester and saw the game out when Jack Mackie kicked the ball dead.
And Chester assistant coach Guy Ford was left to cut a frustrated figure.
He said: “I am disappointed with the players’ inability to secure their setpiece and consequently we struggled.
“Otley took their chances and were clinical, whereas we weren’t.”