Tough morning away at Otley

Heath u13s made their first trip to Otley on a sunny autumnal morning. It was expected to be a tough fixture based on Otley’s strong rep for playing great rugby - Heath’s 14 lads were up for it at near full strength only missing Humphrey Hall.

In the first ten minutes Otley were immediately on the front foot. Their lads were very well drilled with a ferociously brilliant ruck and counter ruck that our lads needed to adjust to quickly. Otley score two early tries. 10-0.

Heath started to get parity in this well reffed game. It needed some individual magic from centre Logan Hall to burst down the left to score his first try. 10-5.

Otley struck back immediately to go 15-5 ahead. From a Heath scrum in midfield the ball went down the line left to right and a well-timed pass from inside centre Ethan Murphy to his centre partner Logan Hall created a big gap which Hall motored through to cross the line.

15-10 at half time. The lads were in a right game! Outstanding defensive efforts from Alfie Cartwright and Jasper Haigh. Some improvements were needed to compete better at the breakdown and the forwards needed to be collectively more abrasive rather than ones and twos.

In the opening minute it was Otley who scored first. 20-10. Heath needed to respond quickly otherwise the lads were at risk of the game running away from them. Inspiration came from quick ball at the under pressure Heath scrum and the ball passed out the back to full back Alfie Cartwright who stepped the Otley defence and burned down the right wing to score an outstanding try. 20-15.

Heath were building confidence and within two minutes Logan Hall flew down the right like a rocket to score his hattrick. 20-20.

This led to a fierce response from Otley who were not having a Heath upset. The rest of the game was played within Heath’s 20m line, with huge pressure being applied. Otley finished the game with three further tries.

35-20 full time.

A great mornings rugby by both clubs and congrats to Otley for a top performance. Heath u13s should be proud of the performance. We will learn from this and improve for sure. We will be ready for the return fixture in January!

Player of the Match: close call between three players - Jasper Haigh, Logan Hall…the winner this week for his phenomenal defence, rucking and attacking threat - Alfie Cartwright.