OTLEY made it three wins out of three in Yorkshire derby games with a 31-17 victory at Sheffield Tigers on Saturday.

Otley kicked off with the sun on their backs, brushing off their away blues from two weeks ago.

Dominant in the pack throughout, Otley’s pack ably was directed by Harry Skelton, who ruled the high ground from the outset.

The hosts were under pressure in Otley’s first attack, giving away penalties and scrums.

The pressure finally told when Adam Malthouse went over after seven minutes and Ben Smith converted.

Unfortunately, Otley were unable to gather the restart allowing Peter Swatkins to score in the corner.

Unfazed, Otley continued to push their hosts. An initial run by Danny Adu, taken up by Nazir Karim, saw Adam Malthouse go over for his second.

Relentless pressure from the Otley pack saw Frank Wragg yellow carded for collapsing a maul, the resulting penalty try at the end of the first quarter giving the visitors a 21-5 lead.

Once they were back up to a full quota, the Tigers did pull two tries back when Greg Mellor followed by Joe Duffy went over, Duffy converting his try with two minutes to go before the break.

Although there were fewer scores in the second half, Tigers came close when they got with five metres of the line before being bundled into touch.

The best try was started by Joe Graham when he broke the Tigers’ line in his own half, got the ball to Jack Mackie who passed to Nazir Karim. Karim then ran down the line to secure the bonus point, Smith getting his third conversion.

With an overall penalty count of seven to 17 Otley were in the ascendancy, Joe Rowntree extending the lead when the Tigers held onto the ball in front of their posts with ten minutes to go.

Further pressure nearly saw another Otley try. With little time remaining the Tigers tried to play out of their 22, getting past their ten metre line before losing possession and the game.

The win moves Otley up to ninth in the National Two North, one point behind local rivals Wharfedale.

Otley host Tynedale this Saturday. Kick-off is at 2.30pm.

NICK DOYLE