But they were forced to do it the hard way, a bus breakdown giving them barely 30min warm-up time and the loss of Chris Depper (ankle injury) and James Rodley (red carded for a dangerous tackle) forced them to dig deep. Otley pulled back a halftime Saxons lead to within a point before 2 second half tries secured the bonus point and a 3-score lead that a depleted defence was able to defend despite conceding a late penalty try.

The Saxons starting lineup showed 3 changes from the loss to Macclesfield, Nile Dacres, Eji Uzoigwe and Sione Tu’ipolotu replacing Robbie Hurrell, James Rodley and Gary Dipple respectively. Lucas Roy-Smith returned to bench duty – offering cover at 10 – where he was joined by Rodley, Matt Farrington and Mike Hill, with Scott Wright also returning from suspension after his red card at Chester. On a dark, overcast day the gusting breeze made life difficult for the placekickers but offered help for long kicks into the far corners.

Otley were unsurprisingly first out of the blocks, forcing a 5th minute penalty for an offside in defence that outside half Mark Ireland slotted. Jamie Hearn had a long range opportunity to hit back just after but his kick flew wide. The Saxons started to impose themselves on the game though and forced a 5m scrum after Sione Tu’ipolotu was held up over the line, Stefan Shillingford powering over with a direct run and Jamie Hearn added the extras. 18min 3-7.

Ireland struck back with a penalty when the Saxons were penalised for pulling down a maul and it got worse for the visitors when they lost no.8 Chris Depper to an ankle injury shortly after. Rodley came on to replace him and they stretched their lead on the half hour though when flanker Nigel Mukarati was the man at the base to score from an attacking lineout catch & drive. 34min 6-14.

The Saxons turned Otley over immediately from the restart, Pete White feeding Shillingford who broke a tackle and fed captain Nathan Bressington who scorched up the right wing, putting in an old-fashioned cross kick for the supporting Nile Dacres who managed to ground the ball just when it looked as if it would go dead. 36min 6-21.

Halftime followed with no further score but Otley struck immediately when a pass went loose in the Saxons’ backline, diminutive but influential scrum half James Doherty hacking the ball downfield for a converted try. 41min 13-21. An obstruction gave Ireland an opportunity to reduce the deficit still further but his penalty attempt flew wide, but then the Saxons lost control of the ball at a scrum deep in their 22 giving Otley’s captain Dan Temm the softest of tries. 55min 20-21 and all to play for.

The Saxons responded on the hour with another catch & drive, evergreen loosehead Adam Sturdy bagging a rare try to stretch the lead to 20-28 after Hearn converted. The restart produced the try of the match, Ben Hughes securing the kick which he fed to Rodley who raced through a gap on the right side. With the defence closing him down on the 22 he fed the ball to the supporting Shillingford who still had several defenders to beat but finished the move off in style under the posts. 64min 20-35.

Back came Otley and just as it seemed the game was in the bag Rodley was dismissed for a tip tackle on Doherty. Otley pressed the attack and referee Wayne Falla’s patience with the Saxons’ defence ran out as he awarded a penalty try for pulling down a maul. 76min 27-35. The Saxons 14 men managed to close out the remaining minutes however, the victory avenging a narrow but significant last minute loss last season. Full time 27-35.

Coach Mike Umaga commented : ‘Great fighting spirit in adversity produced a bonus point win which was today’s objective, albeit after a messy day out and the disappointment of taking a red card. But given the difficult journey we’re glad to take 5 points against an Otley side who were genuinely gutted to lose, they really fancied turning us over. My man of the match was Nile Dacres who scored a nice try and was busy around the park, he carried & defended really well’.