Ormskirk u13s 15pts – Eccles u13s 12pts
Ormskirk won this quarter final with the last kick of the match after having been camped in the Eccles half for most of the second half for a deserved win against a very large and physical side.
Eccles began brightly and scored a well worked try after 10 minutes which was against the run of play. From an Ormskirk attack, a good defensive tackle saw the Eccles centre scoop the ball up and run from half way powerfully to skip through three defenders and score under the posts. It wasn’t looking good for Ormskirk, even though they have the bulk of the possession, the physical size of the Eccles team thwarted most attacks. From a good forward platform, especially in the scrum, the running of flanker Eddie Webster and centre Liam Peate proved to be Ormskirk’s best options. Webster it was who reduced the deficit with a fine try after a typically strong drive down the right touchline.
Ormskirk were much better in the second half which was spent mostly in Eccles territory. At times the handling of the backs defied the awful conditions of wind and rain, Adam Kirk at fly half contiually spreading the ball wide for Peate and Webster (who had moved into the centre) to exploit. The speed of wingers O’Brien and Dawson nearly unlocked the Eccles defence on a couple of occasions. But, a mixture of great defending and the wrong options typified an Ormskirk performance that was verging on the desperate. When Eccles did try and break out of defence they were stopped with some great pressure tackles. The one everyone will remember is when Aaron Cheung launched into a bone-crunching tackle that seemed to knock the resolve out of the visitors, as well as the wind out of the players he hit. with a tackle out of the Jason White book of turning defence into attack. The pack was not to going to let this one slip however, and with the power of Marc Tasker, Alex Fitzpatrick, Aidan Charlton and new boy Alex Fairhurst one score would surely crack the stubborn visitors. But the match winner proved to be one the team’s consistent performers.
From a ruck near the Eccles line, scrum half Jonny Dunn dived over for a morale-boosting try. He slotted over the pressure conversion with ice cool nerve to tie the scores.
In the last minute, Ormskirk were awarded a penalty near the posts, with the calmness of Jonny Wilkinson, Dunn again signalled for goal and coolly struck the winning blow for Ormskirk, who now look forward to a semi-final against Leigh on March 18th at Green Lane.
Tries: Webster, Dunn. Con: Dunn. Pen: Dunn
Team: Alex Finn (Alex Fairhurst 15), Marc Tasker, Bradley Spencer (Matthew Swords 35), Connor Thomas, Alex Fitzpatrick, Steve Maloney, Eddie Webster, Aidan Charlton (c), Jonny Dunn, Adam Kirk, Jack O’Brien, Jordan Dawson, Liam Peate, Aaron Cheung, Dan BailieÂ
