Bowdon 1st XV 27 – 5 Ormskirk 1st XV
Ormskirk lost out at high-flying Bowdon in their first game of 2012 after a disappointing 2nd half performance. Kirk started brightly and, playing into a strong wind, really took the game to Bowdon and the home side struggled to cope with number 8 Ben Davis who went on a few rampaging runs. The men in green also looked dangerous in midfield early on with both centres Matt Johnson and John Curley making good breaks. Unfortunately for Ormskirk they didn’t turn their pressure into points and it was Bowdon that scored the opening try of the game after their inside centre was allowed to offload out of the tackle, the try was converted, 7-0. Kirk got straight back on the front foot and after good recycling from the forwards scrum-half Gaz Prytherch once again released the backline and a well-disguised miss pass from fly-half James Illingworth found Curley who sped through a gap and covered the remaining 70 yards to the line unchallenged. Illingworth’s conversion attempt slipped narrowly wide.
The game continued to be fairly even for the remainder of the half, Bowdon’s big number 8 and inside centre proved a real handful for Ormskirk and the wind allowed Bowdon to clear their lines when they were under pressure but Kirk gave as good as they got throughout the half. Ormskirk nearly added to their score when a strong run from Jake Hodson took him past his opposite winger and his inside ball to Andy Wilson saw the returning openside race towards the Bowdon line before being tackled 5 yards short. When a chance came Bowdon’s way they were more clinical and an unconverted try from close range saw them take a 12-5 lead into the break.
Finding themselves only 7 point down after playing into the strong wind, Ormskirk were confident that the game was still theirs for the taking. Unfortunately, as has been the case far too often this season, Ormskirk failed to play for the full 80 minutes and a combination of not using the elements well enough and a good second half game plan from Bowdon saw the home side score 3 unanswered second half tries. It was disappointing to see a few tackles being missed by Ormskirk as Bowdon’s big men wore them down as the half progressed and this is something that will have to improve if Ormskirk are going to climb out of the relegation zone.
This Saturday sees Ormskirk entertain Glossop in a 14:15 kick-off at Green Lane. The pressure is now building on Kirk to get a confidence boosting win under their belts as soon as possible and they will be going all out to get that result against the Derbyshire men.
Ormskirk: 1, Gately 2, Bowling 3, Hirsimaki 4, Hitchlock 5, Merrill 6, Rothwell 7, Wilson 8, Davis 9, Prytherch (c) 10, Illingworth 11, Hodson 12, Johnson 13, Curley 14, Wroe 15, Healey 16, Shellis 17, Clarke 18, Williams
