Saturday 16th December 2006
Ormskirk Ladies          14
Preston Grasshoppers 14
(Tries : A O’Malley, E Gander. Conversions : J Leitch (2))
If you were a bullfighter, would you charge the bull? If you were a hunter would you throw away your rifle and take on the bear with your bare hands? If your answer to these questions is, ‘You must be joking!’, please come and play for Ormskirk Ladies. The addition of a little common sense to this remarkable group of players would not go amiss,
When scrum half and Girl of the Game Anna O’Maley picked up and went blind in the opening moments of the game it was obvious that the Ladies had the beating of Hoppers out wide. Stripping three defenders for pace she scored under the posts for fly half Leitch to convert.
But instead of adopting the game plan that has served them so well this season they chose to try and play Hoppers at their own game. Which was rucking and mauling. It was brave but it was stupid. What little ball came the Ladies way they bumbled straight back into the arms of Hoppers’ grisly pack. And when they did try to move it wide, they dropped it.
The first half turned into a grim, goal line stand. The tackling was courageous but it was only a matter of time before the pressure told with Hoppers equalising shortly before half time.
The Ladies moved the ball with more ambition in the second half and centre Emma Gander scored a fine try after Leitch made a telling break. It looked like the Ladies might secure a famous victory over the leaders of Division North 2, the division above theirs, but Hoppers deservedly equalised shortly before the end.
Report by Sam Botfield
