The visitors from the Midlands looked assured and sharp right from the kick off, on what was a bright but chilly afternoon up in West Yorkshire. Alex O’Malley opened the scoring after just 5 minutes after Adam Canning floated a long pass out to the young winger.
Canning added the extras on, what was to prove, a flawless afternoon with the boot for the Bees fly half. The lead was further extended to 0-10 after 14 minutes with a Canning penalty.

The Bees forwards went about their business in a workmanlike and highly effective manner, putting continued pressure on the home side. The second try for the visitors came on the 21-minute mark, after a well judged kick from scrum half Petty gave the Bees an attacking 5 metre line out. Lock forward Matt Spink crossed the whitewash from the catch and drive. With Canning’s right boot again on song, the Bees were 0-17 up and looking comfortable.

Spink came close to scoring again just two minutes from the break, with the Otley defence just holding out, but a second Canning penalty on the stroke of half time took the score to 0-20.

Otley were profligate with what little possession they had throughout the first half and were guilty of a number of handling errors and poor decision-making. They were also unable to capitalise on, what was, a relatively solid scrum platform.

The Yorkshiremen started the second half in a much more purposeful fashion, with prop forward Paul Hill and blindside flanker Tom O’Donnell in particular seemingly reinvigorated after their half time refreshments. Continued pressure on the Bees line earned Matt Spink a yellow card and Otley made their numerical advantage pay with a try out wide by full back Arnie Ellison. Gemmell missed the conversion but at 5-20, hopes were momentarily raised for the Cross Green faithful.

However with the experience of gnarled old pros like Petty and Long, the young Bees side soaked up the pressure well, maintaining their defensive shape and discipline. With Spink restored after his 10-minute unplanned breather, the Bees soon scored their third try of the afternoon, with Petty finishing off some great work by skipper Will Radburn. Another successful Canning conversion meant that the Bees were 5-27 to the good with only 20 minutes remaining.

The men from Otley refused to lie down and their continued industry was rewarded after 26 minutes, when scrum half and captain Steve Depledge scampered through at close range. Gemmell’s kick narrowed the gap to 12-27.

The Bees scented a bonus point try and they were justly rewarded after replacement winger Steven Johns was the grateful recipient of an offload from the ever dangerous Oscar Heath, after a typically incisive run from midfield.

With Otley’s O’Donnell yellow carded – harshly many would argue – for a clumsy tackle, the Bees took full advantage with two further converted tries by the ever-present Chris Goddard and replacement centre Ashley Elvers – the latter after another handling howler by the home side.

Otley will probably feel that the final score of 12-48 was not a true reflection of the game as a whole, but nonetheless this was an impressive performance from a Bees’ side full of New Year’s resolve. This resolve will be further examined next Saturday (18th January, kick off 2pm) with the visit of Luctonians to Portway.

Teams:-

Otley – Ellison, Karim, Mackie, Gemmell, Beaumont, Ireland, Depledge, Scott, Armitage, O’Donnell, Willet, Stannard, Hill, Chivers and Rigg. Replacements Burkinshaw, Steele, Stephens, Heaton and Hudson.

Birmingham & Solihull – Heath (T), Evans, Oliver, Leach, O’Malley (T), Canning (6C, 2P), Petty (T), Goddard (T), Scriven, Stephens, Lee, Spink (T), Long, Radburn, Koziot. Replacements Morley, Bingham, Johns, Elvers (T) and Jolly.

Referee – Chris Bennett