KIRKBY Lonsdale suffered a difficult defeat against Otley at Underly Park.

From the opening of the match Otley was on the offensive and kicked off toward the town end with their forwards in support.

Five minutes in the first try was scored by Otley which came from a line out.

This proved to be a sign of things to come as Otley did not let up during the first half.

Coulton and Huddlestone linked up with Brown to make a break forward, but the Otley full back counter attacked with their number 14 which gave them their second try.

A converted try made it 0-12 after 10 minutes.

The next 10 minutes saw the home team defend stoically but could not keep the visitors pack from driving over for the third try following a line out. Unconverted Otley moved to 19 points.

Kirkby restarted but Otley were just getting into their stride when their backs ran through the Kirkby line and put their 4th try on the board.

The full back’s boot let him down but 24 points had still been gained. The kick off saw Otley run through Kirkby again with the forwards linking with their backs to push the score along to 0-31.

The end result at half time was 36 points for Otley.

In the second half, Kirkby kicked off but were soon on the back foot again.

Otley defence held and following a line out they moved the ball along their line for a try by number 14 after 15 minutes resulting in their score moving to 43.

Two minutes later the Otley 14 popped up to score his fourth try which was unconverted but the score was now 0-48.

The next 10 minutes were Kirkby’s who played in the visitor’s half and pressed the try line but could not get the score. From a Kirkby lineout the ball was stolen and the swift backs of Otley ran the length of the field and went over to add to Kirkby’s woes.

The visitors moved to 53 points with 15 minutes remaining of the match.

Kirkby pushed forward from the kick off and Otley went into defence mode.

However, the attack came to nothing as Otley broke out from their 22 and again the backs played their part in beating the home side for speed and a converted try under the posts made it 60 points.

The heavy ground paid its toll on the Kirkby players who fought well against the top side in the league as two further tries gave a final score of 0-72.

Perhaps a day to forget for Kirkby who were missing key players, but their spirit is still there and heads should be held high.