Ormskirk RUFC

First XV Match report – 19.04.08
Dukinfield 18 Ormskirk 5

Ormskirk travelled to Dukinfield knowing that a win would guarantee promotion into South Lancashire/Cheshire I next season. They made hard work of it, but in the final analysis – and by the narrowest of margins, ‘kirk did indeed secure promotion…….. But it was all down to a phone call at the end of a game! The traveling Green Laners were frustrated and angry at nor being able to beat Dukinfield today, but knowing that Sefton had to beat Southport - and wipe out a points difference of 24 points – kept their hopes high.

When Ormskirk found out that they had indeed been promoted by virtue of a superior points difference of just 9 points, the mood in the camp was improved somewhat! Beating Dukinfield on their own patch (and a muddy patch at that) would have been sweet and would have given ‘kirk a psychological edge for next year – but it wasn’t to be today.

Ormskirk put in a terrible performance. They let Dukinfield play tough up front rugby. There was nothing fancy about their performance, it was just basic tactics done in their typically thuggish way! With a strong wind and a slope to contend with Dukinfield’s fly half controlled the game for most of the 80 minutes. His kicking for territory was well executed and he had runners working off him all day. Kirk once again gave away more silly penalties, and after 15 minutes they kicked one of these to go 3-0 up, then another one hit the posts and bounced back straight into the Dukinfield attack, but the kirk defence stood strong. Moments later they scored a try from close range and then kicked the extras to go 10-0 up. Leading into the last 20 minutes of the half, kirk now started to take control. They weathered the storm on their own line, and gradually moved up the field (and up the hill at the same time!) The forwards worked well, and were unlucky not to score, basic errors from both sides keeping the score at 10-0 after 40 minutes.

With the strong wind and playing down the slope, Kirk were in confident mood. They used the tight game, made good yardage, and should have finished off 3 chances. Dukinfield’s defence was good, and when they came back at kirk they scored another try from a rolling maul. The missed conversion making it 15-0. This made kirk more determined, and knowing that the points difference was tight, they again attacked, John Curley out pacing his man on 2 occasions was unlucky not to score. Then a moment of brilliance from Andy Wilson. The young hooker took the ball out wide, skipped round 2 defenders and side stepped another to score a superb solo effort. The conversion was missed, making it 13-5. The game became scrappy, and moments before the end the home team kicked another penalty to finish the game off at 18-5.

The lads were gutted, knowing that they put in one of the worst performances of the season. Coach for the day Adi Molyneux tried to get the Sefton result over the phone, there was a nail biting 10 minute delay before the good news came! It’s a credit to the 1st team squad that even though they had been promoted they were still frustrated with their performance. But then the beer started flowing…..and flowing……

They got on the coach, and sang a few traditional rugby songs with titles that are not printable here. The antics carried on back at Green Lane, this was a big occasion and the lads wanted to celebrate in typical rugby fashion. Boat races were won by the forwards (the backs were handicapped as they had to take General Troutmen to make up the numbers) but later, with their slimline physiques they made up for it by winning a very competitive game of ‘Bar Diving’.

A good end to the season, and Kirk have got what they deserved. With both the 1st and 2nd teams getting promotion there is a lot of hard work to be done in pre-season, competition for places will be high, as Kirk will want to go into that top league with a bang!!!

This coming Saturday will see the annual ‘John Winn’ trophy being played for as Ormskirk host fellow rivals Southport at Green lane. Kick off 3pm

South Lancs/Cheshire 2

Team P W D L F A Diff Pts Adjust
Dukinfield 22 16 1 5 391 313 78 33 0
Ormskirk 22 13 2 7 376 270 106 28 0
Sefton 22 14 0 8 358 261 97 28 0
Orrell Anvils 22 13 2 7 372 313 59 26 -2
Crewe and Nantwich 22 11 1 10 271 279 -8 23 0
Wallasey 22 10 2 10 437 324 113 22 0
Southport 22 11 0 11 305 318 -13 22 0
Warrington 22 10 1 11 396 326 70 21 0
Ashton on Mersey 22 10 1 11 335 325 10 21 0
Oswestry 22 10 0 12 340 414 -74 20 0
Liverpool Collegiate 22 3 0 19 242 484 -242 4 -2
Oldershaw 22 5 2 15 246 442 -196 3 -9