Vagabonds 10 Ormskirk 41
Ormskirk travelled to the Isle of Man for this re-arranged league fixture and put in an impressive performance with highlights coming from an Andy Wroe Hat trick and a John Armstrong 21 point haul.
Flying over for the day in glorious sunshine on this ‘Cannonball Run’ trip made for a stark contrast to the Dukinfield Gloom 7 days earlier.
It was clear from the start that the home side had a bigger and stronger pack, which they used to dominate the scrum, but in the last 20 minutes their added weight advantage worked against them as Kirk finished the stronger of the 2 teams, with their superior fitness proving key, thanks no doubt to thee commendable work by ‘storming’ Norm Hall’s Tuesday night fitness sessions. Prior to kick-off, stand-in captain Ben Davis deputising for the unavailable Cliff ‘Kirbo’ Kirkby made it clear as to what he expected from the ‘Kirk 1st XV and not to let the ‘excitement’ of the trip distract his men from the job in hand; a victory for the Green Lane Men.
Ormskirk started strongly with most notably Ben Davis making excellent yards from the kick-off, a trademark move which he has made his own in recent weeks. The powerful No.8 ably supported by his twin brother No. 5 Phil ‘THE ENFORCER’ Davis really started to ask questions of the ‘Vaga’ tight 5. With Ormskirk’s all-road sporting great John Armstrong marshalling his backline superbly, ‘Kirk were making good in-roads into the opposition’s 22. With Vagabonds at breaking point, the referee made it quite clear to the Vagabonds No.6 in particular that he must play to the rules. With Vagabonds continuing to hold on in the rucks, the referee awarded two penalties to ‘Kirk which Armstrong coolly slotted, 6-0 at 13 minutes.
From the re-start again Captain Davis gathered coolly and set off on a bruising run. Forwards such as Andrew Dean and the immovable front row union of Paul Rowley, Chris ‘HARDMAN’ Tracey and Valentine ‘I’VE GOT A TINY CUT ON MY HEAD’ Gatley providing support to the burly No.8. With ‘Kirks backline starting to gel it wasn’t long before the green and blue men troubled the scoreboard. The wiry outside centre and player of the year 2007-08, John Curley gathered a superbly floated pass from Armstrong to round his opposite man and covering wing before he offloaded to Andy Wroe. With still a lot to do, Wroe took a huge tackle to his offside clattering the speedy winger. Despite the huge tackle, Wroe managed to ground the ball over the whitewash, 11-0 with Armstrong adding the extras, 13-0 at 24 minutes.
From the re-start ‘Kirk again managed to drive the ball deep into ‘enemy’ ‘Vaga’ territory however with Dean and Phil Davis struggling to hold the Vagabonds pack in the scrum, Vagabonds managed to assert some pressure on Kirk. With Ormskirk’s defensive line starting to creak, holes started to appear and despite the resolute marshalling from Ray Doolan and Curley, the classy Vagabonds No.12 managed to scamper over from 15 metres. With the conversion missed, 13-5 at 27 minutes.
Captain Davis was livid and with Coach Phil Harland putting his two penneth worth in, ‘Kirk were under no impression they had to raise the game. However almost from the re-start, Curley made an unforced error to ‘gift’ the Vagabonds No.14 an interception pass which he took well. 13-10 at 35 minutes.
‘Kirk managed to hold on till the interval and went in with a slender lead and with the game still up for the taking for either side, it was anyone’s guess how it would end. With the second half underway, ‘Kirks superior fitness started to shine through with Armstrong using the wind well to play the positional game. A key pivotal moment in the game was a bulldozing run from the Vagabonds No.12 however an outstanding double tackle from Captain Davis and No.6 Glyn Roberts managed to knock the wind out of ‘Vaga.
It was at this point that ‘Kirks outstanding backline which has really blossomed as the season has progressed, started to ignite like a classy firework. First Armstrong after some quick fire rucking from his tight 5, secured quick ball for the lanky No.10 to scamper over despite the resolute tackling of five ‘enemy’ forwards. With the extras, 20-10 at 47 minutes. With Wroe already on the score sheet he went for his second. Again outstanding build-up play from the forwards provided quick ball for Armstrong. Wroe gathered a speedy spin pass and using sheer pace outsprinted his opposing winger and full back to make the score. With Armstrong again taking the conversion, 27-10 at 54 minutes.
With ‘Kirk now in full domination, it was Wroe’s opposite wing the youngster Luke Parker. Again after some dynamic work by the ‘Kirk marauding forwards in Dean, Rowley and Roberts, veteran No. 9 Mark Essex dispatched quick ball which ended up with Parker on his wing. Parker still with a lot to do, managed to out pace his opposite number with pure acceleration to blaze a trail down the touchline to go under the uprights. With Armstrong again taking the extras, 34-10 at 60 minutes.
However Wroe who has been under pressure for his No.14 shirt in recent weeks converted a fantastic last score. Replacement Andy Healey who came on for Gareth Little, was into the action straight away, he gathered a loose clearance kick and went on a blistering run breaking through the Vagabonds line. Healey drew the fullback perfectly to put Wroe away from his opposite wing who dummied the covering defence to go under the posts and complete an outstanding hat trick, 41-10 at 78 minutes with Armstrong again converting beautifully.
Vagabonds were quite simply put to the sword by the pace and guile of the ‘Kirk backline however a memorable victory on the road would not have been possible without a workmanlike performance by the Ormskirk forwards who at times had to grind the large Vagabonds pack into submission. One thing is for sure Vagabonds will not be relishing the return leg at Fortress Green Lane ‘House of Pain’ next week.
