Ormskirk RUFC

First XV Match report – 20.10.07
Oswestry 13-25 Ormskirk (Half-time 3-13)

Ormskirk travelled to the English/Welsh border to play Oswestry for last weekend’s league fixture. The team arrived in good spirits and put on a fine display of running rugby and - more importantly - came home with a convincing win. Having been knocked out of the cup the previous week the onus was on the Green Laners to deliver. It started well with the forwards taking the ball and recycling effectively. Oswestry found it hard to stop the onslaught as player after player would break at the side of rucks. Man of the match Andy Wilson proved to be particularly troublesome on such darts and made valuable yards.

Despite a few positional changes Kirk worked like a well oiled machine. Jamie Gregg filling in at scrum-half played a blinder behind the pack and, when he wasn’t running through gaps, delivered good ball to fly-half Phil Armstrong who had plenty of options in his back-line which included another set of kicking feet from inside centre Barry Wilkinson. The inside centre opened his first team account with a penalty kick after Oswestry were penalised for holding on as flanker Glyn Roberts scurrilously rummaged for ball after ball.

Soon afterwards Gregg made a break down the blind side of a scrum and fed his number 8. A neat draw and pass found wing man Wroe, who rarely gets taken down one and one, and the pacey florist scored a beauty. After the restart Kirk had lineout ball. Leaping Lenny Bennett caught and the pack protected. Hooker Wilson got into the fray and with some footwork that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Strictly Come Dancing beat the defence and raced off down the line. Roberts was in support and Wilson obliged, getting tackled himself he off-loaded to Captain Cliff Kirby who teased the crowd by juggling the ball before slamming it over the whitewash.

A penalty to Oswestry before half-time gave them some hope but the team talk from Kirby and Coach Harland gave a positive vibe that Kirk would take into the final 40. The Kirk team were dominating, scrums were powerful and the prop combination of Paul Rowley and Dave Jones made the afternoon a misery for Oswestry’s front row. Any ball coming Oswestry’s way was booted down field but Kirk’s full-back, John Curly apparently doesn’t drop high balls and was more than happy to run it back. Speed merchant Peter Spengler made good yards when Curly linked up with him.

The dominance from Ormskirk resulted in frustration from Oswestry and Barry Wilkinson went on a penalty kicking spree. Knocking over no less than 4 kicks in the second half. At 3-25 it looked like Oswestry were completely out of it but Kirk let themselves down in a ten minute period by losing concentration and allowed the home team to score twice. Fortunately Kirk regained their composure and led by big hits from Molyneux and Mark Webster kept Oswestry at bay. Another performance like that against Crewe at home next weekend will surely see Ormskirk team progress even further up the league table.

Team: Rowley (Gately 60), Wilson, Jones, Bennett, Kirby, Molyneux, Roberts (Webster 60), Gregg, Armstrong, Ashworth (Gordon 65), Curly, Spengler, Wroe