Ormskirk Ladies       34
Heaton Moor WRUFC 24
Tries : J Leitch 2, R Cowan 2, K Johnson 1, K McDonnell 1
Conversions J Leitch 2
This was a game of two halves and a couple of rocks. The two halves were half pint scrum half Katie Johnson and dolly sized full back Anna O’Malley. The rocks were mumsy No 8 Lou Prescott…. it’s just ten weeks since she had her baby … and brick hard centre Emma Gander.
After beating league leaders Fleetwood a couple of weeks ago the Ladies might have thought that the rest of the league were going to be awed into submision. Not so. Heaton Moor smashed into Ormskirk with a well organised pack and launched centre Heidi … so called because she’s roughly the size of the Alps… into a series of punishing runs at the heart of the Ormskirk defence. It brought a swift reward and Moor soon secured a 7-0 lead.
The Ladies pack can charitably be described as makeshift. Half are keen beginners and the other half aren’t. For some, their last experience of training of any kind was on a potty. But they buckled down and provided a few meagre scraps of ball for Johnson and the rest of the backs to use. Or lose, depending on the handling. Enough passes stuck to see wingers Rachael Cowan and Kayleigh McDonnell notch a try each and a 12-7 lead. Heaton Moor resumed their pounding and secured another converted try for a 14-12 half time lead.
In the second half Prescott and Gander firmed up the defence and O’Malley and Johnson skipped and scampered and kept the ball moving. Fly half Jenny Leitch scored and converted, Johnson bobbed under a couple of tackles and made it 24-14… although she paid the price as the Alps fell on her as went over the score.
Luckily she was only winded and was quickly re-inflated. At last the Ladies showed some self belief and for the rest of the game kept their opponents at arms length, countering with further tries from Leitch and Cowan each time Heaton Moor fought back.
League table available at :
http://www.rfu.com/fixtures/MatchByDivision.aspx?DivID=6687606
Next game 5/11/06 away at Eccles - 2.30pm kick off.
