OLD OTLIENSIANS 12 CASTLEFORD 0

Despite snow during the week and heavy rain overnight, the pitch was in surprisingly good condition for the visit of an in-form Castleford team.

There was no wind, and in the early stages it was an evenly-matched contest. As the game progressed 'Ensians were on top in the scrums but despite doing their best to open up play, the Castleford defence was up to the job.

However after 15 minutes, a good ball was delivered to Will Cooper. He gave his opposite number a glorious dummy to score a try beneath the posts. He converted it himself to make the score seven points to nil.

The next 15 minutes saw the home team camped in the Castleford half. Despite some good offloading and hard forward play, the visitors' defence was equal to the challenge.

'Ensians came close on two occasions. A forward drive took them to within inches of the line and then a break by Olly Eaves was followed by a Nick Keinhorst sprint. He was pulled down just short of the posts.

The away side nearly found a route back into the game after a sloppy pass was intercepted, but fortunately for 'Ensians, the gathering Castleford back was flagged offside.

It was 'Ensians turn to defend at the end of the half, but they held firm to reach the break without conceding.

The home team began the second half well, and were constantly in charge of the scrums and lineouts. Forwards Ali Campbell and Sam Featherstone being particularly outstanding in that department.

The play was generally scrappy with the forwards dominating the action. Rob Arbuckle was really enjoying himself, with hard drives and tackles which gave the Castleford defence much to think about.

For 35 minutes, the home team enjoyed the majority of possession and territorial advantage but had little to show for it.

Then, following a well-taken penalty by Cooper and good lineout ball, both Joe Armitage and Featherstone went agonisingly close to scoring.

The resulting scrum pushed the Castleford pack backwards towards the line and when the ball was released, scrum-half Rob Lofthouse neatly jinked past the defence to score an unconverted try to finish the game off.

A hard-fought victory for 'Ensians was made more satisfying by other results going their way. It gives them a little more leeway in their push for promotion.