Wigan 15 Ormskirk 22
January 20th 2007
It was pleasing to see Ormskirk finally play a mid-season pool game and for all who were there to see, nobody could question the commitment shown from either side in a keenly fought contest. Both teams rested many players and ‘kirk selected a side comprising of those coming back from injury, looking for match practice or vying for a 1st XV place. Ormskirk played the first half with an almost gale force wind at their backs and initially utilised the wind well with Phill Armstrong pinning Wigan in their own ‘22’ with some astute kicking. Wigan conceded a penalty which Jonny Cobbold converted to give them an early 3-0 advantage.
After continued Ormskirk pressure, the ‘kirk forwards got their reward with a catch and drive – big Paul Rowley emerged from under a pile of bodies to extend Ormskirk’s lead to 8-0 with a well taken try. Jonny Cobbold duly converted from the touchline with a sweetly struck kick: 10-0 to the visiting Gingerbread Men. The feeling from the side line was that the wind was worth twenty points to whoever had it at their backs, so it was important Ormskirk built on their lead. Having kicked well early on and having pushed the Wigan wingers back, Ormskirk had the opportunity to now run the ball from midfield and utilise the space out wide. A move from right to left fed winger Jim McKeowan with the ball who duly beat his man before attracting other defenders and feeding inside for Dickie Underwood to run 50 metres (a distance which he usually only attempts on a bike) to score the final points of the half to make it 15-0.
The second-half appeared to be a carbon copy of the first, this time with Wigan utilising the wind to dominate territorially. With hooker Graham Bowling off the pitch, Ormskirk were unable to maintain any first phase possession, and a ball won against the head allowed the quick thinking Wigan number 8 to pick and go at the scrum and score in the corner. The difficult conversion was added to make it 15-7 to Ormskirk. Ormskirk were struggling to win any ball now and Wigan were ruthless converting pressure into points. A penalty was added by the home side and with a further try being scored due to poor Kirk tackling, scores were level at 15 all and there appeared to be only one possible winner (and it didn’t look like being Ormskirk).
Ormskirk, however, had other ideas. Graham Bowling came back on and with his ability to hit his man in the lineout, the ‘Gingerbread Men’ were able to secure possession. Scrum-half Andrew Healey decided the way to win the game was to keep the ball close to the forwards with his big men crashing it up. The last twenty minutes was a war of attrition with Ormskirk playing some dull yet sensible rugby. ‘Pick and go’ was the cry at every available opportunity, and with both sets of backs reduced to spectators for the last 20 minutes, it was the Ormskirk pack who emerged victorious. Despite going close several times through Kieran Mahood and Graham Bowling, Glyn Roberts finally got over the line from another pick up from the base of a ruck. Jonny Cobbold converted and Ormskirk played out the final ten minutes to win 22-15.
Lessons will have been learned by the Ormskirk coaching staff and players alike. Winning is a habit and too often in the recent past Ormskirk have lost close encounters by the odd point. On Saturday however, they had the leadership skills and the work ethic to regroup with twenty minutes to go and change the game plan in order to secure a win which at that stage looked rather unlikely. Hopefully, this momentum can be taken into next week’s league encounter against Manchester Wanderers.
The coaching staff must also take note that with Orrell Anvils out of the league and therefore with only 20 league games in a season, they must use these ‘free weekends’ productively. These pool games enable fringe players to stake a claim for a place, allow players out of form to get some match practice outside of the pressure cooker environment of a league game and allow people returning from injury to regain match fitness.
