Ormskirk RUFC

Sunday 26th November 

Colne & Nelson WRUFC      10

Ormskirk Ladies                 78

Tries : E Gander (3), R Cowan (3) A O’Malley (2), J Leitch, K Johnson, G Kendall (2)

Conversions : J Leitch (9)

With the Ldaies already 5-0 up through a try by Winger Rachael Cowan, fly half Jenny Leitch broke free and arrowed towards the corner.  You’d have put your Granny’s life on her scoring.  Uncharacteristically she checked, stepped inside two despairing defenders and fed the ball to centre Anna O’Malley who scored under the posts.  RIP Granny.

At the start of the season Girl of the Game Leitch was the Ladies’ outstanding threat.  So much so that her habit of scoring hat tricks had earned her hte nickname ‘Jugs’ … don’t get excited boys; this in reference to the English rugby tradition of buying a jug of beer for your team mates in recognition of their part in your hat trick.  But in recent games the triples have dried up and she is spraying the ball around with perception and assurance.  Maybe it’s because she’s becoming increasingly comfortable at outside half … or maybe, just maybe, this could be Jug Evasion on a grand scale.  After all, hat tricks can be an expensive business.

Leitch’s ability to bring her backs into the game has turned them into a potent unit, capable of scoring tries from anywhere.  And individually Ormskirk’s backs are growing in confidence.  When Coach Sam Botfield told lock Gail Kendall she could expect to spend a fair amount of time on the wing this season there was a sharp intake of breath from the team.  Kendall does not often take these things philosophically and sometimes you have to wade through whole drifts of toys to get to her pram.  But 8 tries later, she is turning into a dangerous strike runner.

Wing Kendall tore through from half way for a third before Leitch herself and centre Emma Gander put the game way out of Colne & Nelson’s reach.  The home side did not give up though.  Either side of half time their powerful forwards engineered unconverted scores.  But soon normal service was resumed and the deluge of points continued.  O’Malley scored her second try, Gander and Cowan completed their hat tricks, Kendall notched another and scrum half Katie ‘Munch’ Johnson scored another of her trademark ‘now you see me, now you don’t’ tries.

At least once in every game Munch … Johnson once auditiotioned for a part as a munchkin but was rejected as being too small … will be surrounded by a bunch of burly forwards intent on ripping her head off.  Squeamish spectoators wince and squeeze their eyes shut.  But when they open them again Munch is 75m away and putting hte ball down under the posts.  Magic.

However, the Ladies’ backs can’t do anything without the ball and a fine performance from the Ormskirk pack … particularly from the Honeymonsters (prop Jen Schofield and hooker Lesley Kenny) kept Colne & Nelson out and secured the possession that the Ladies needed.

Report by Sam Botfield