2019 PL Challenge Cup Round 1 - Otley v Harden

Adjudicators:  AB, JK, PL

Timing: 09:45 and 11:15

Prices: 1.30 and 1.40

This cup tie required an early start, and adherence to a rigorous schedule, to ensure that Harden was reached before the pies were sold out. The Adjudicators agreed that they needed to be in Harden between 11:00 and 11:10, and planned their schedule accordingly.

As the Adjudicators drove into Otley, they were greeted with an overwhelming gloomy darkness, and a wind driven torrential downpour. Fortunately, once they had parked up, and sent the youngest Adjudicator out to purchase a parking ticket, conditions began to ease, and by the time the pies were taken, the rain had almost ceased.

The Otley Pie was warm, and though the crust was perhaps slightly overdone, the meat content was substantial, well-seasoned and tasty. The jelly was not immediately noticeable, but must have worked its way into the meat and pastry to provide some juiciness. On a cold, damp, windy day, this Pie was appreciated by all three Adjudicators.

Half time drinks were hurriedly taken in the Bowling Green, the only open pub spotted by the Adjudicators, (there must have been others…..there seems to be pub every 30 yards or so), but one mentioned in previous match reports, as having a cobbled alley running through the middle of it.

The Adjudicators arrived in Harden by 11:00, palates cleansed and ready to appreciate a Pie fondly remembered from the 2018 PL Season. BUT………to their dismay, they found that all the pies had gone…….apart from two stand pies. After a brief discussion, it was decided to invoke the PLCC Round 1 Rule, allowing wild card entry to a neighbouring club, in just such an eventuality. And Wilsden were the beneficiaries of the decision.

Unfortunately, perhaps because of the short notice,(about 10 or 15 minutes), the Wilsden Pie proved a disappointment. Already cold, with a rather hard crust, and a filling tending towards the bland, it never seriously contended. However, it should be noted that as the Adjudicators stood outside the butchers shop, eating their pies, they noticed Tintin’s dog, Snowy, staring intently at them, through the window of the house across the street. Snowy continued to show intense concentration, until one Adjudicator crossed the road, and took a photograph of him……at which point Snowy went berserk, barking aggressively and hurling himself against the window. Disappointed and puzzled by this strange reaction, the Adjudicators left dismal Wilsden.

So Otley march on, into the Quarter-Finals, ensuring that Wharfedale will still be represented in the next stage of the tournament. And their progress should ensure that there will be no bitter arguments from the old hardliners who never accepted the Wild Card Ruling, and would have insisted on an Otley victory by default……