OTLEY suffered their worst defeat of the season, a 60-17 beating by a rampant Stourbridge side on Saturday.

The home side got their first points after five minutes when Otley were penalised for not releasing, Chris Scott slotting the ball through the posts.

Otley spent the first quarter of an hour defending, and eventually succumbed when Dan Rundle cut across the visitor’s defence before finding Mark Harrison who went over unopposed in the corner.

Otley tried to rally and a great run by Ben Magee down the flank to sidestep the Saxon’s defence was followed by a pass inside close to the line, but wasn’t taken cleanly and the opportunity was lost.

Magee subsequently suffered a knee injury and had to be replaced.

On the half hour, Otley got on the scoresheet when Stourbridge were caught offside, Joe Rowntree stepping up to score midway into the home side's half.

Stourbridge then ran in three tries before half-time to make the half time score 25-3.

Otley came out looking to turn things around, but suffered a hammer blow when, after a period of sustained pressure on the Stourbridge line, Joe Heatley intercepted a pass and then ran the length of the pitch to score.

Two further tries within two minutes by Stourbridge made Otley’s task that bit harder.

Otley gained a penalty in the Saxon’s 22 and rather than go for the easy points, a quick pass from Ben Smith to Adam Malthouse saw the forward bludgeon his way through for his ninth try of the season.

With eight minutes to go and with a penalty in the bag, Otley moved the ball across the home side’s defence putting Josh Hall over in the corner. Joe Rowntree converted both tries.

Dan Rundle then scored two further converted tries in the dying moments to complete the 60-17 rout.

NICK DOYLE