Last Man Standing
“Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit”.
Anton Chekhov
It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it, and that applies both to Saturday’s playing conditions and that of the tenure of captaincy. Chekhov’s words of wisdom can easily be linked to recent events at Ormskirk rugby club. However, a newly swept cupboard for the 3rd team was excellently replenished by new captain, Matt Waterhouse, who’s now re-named Barbarians select, took on the might of Eagle Saturday past.
Mud, mud, glorious mud, did little to stifle the attacking ambition of both teams, and this laid the foundation of an absorbing game of end to end play. Kirk started the stronger and took it to the Eagle defence, but errors crept into the Barbarians’ game as they became over eager at the breakdown, and a good few chances went a-begging as a result.
But finally Kirk broke through, thanks to young Tom Sinclair who weaved his way through a mesmerized Eagle defence to score under the posts, with the extras added by scrum-half, Rhys Ward. Eagle rose to the challenge and soon pulled back 5 points when they exploited an overlap on the right to score an unconverted try, this brought a passage of attritional play from both sides, with Eaves, Sinclair senior, and Mathers being prominent in the Barbarians cause along with young Bennett harrying Eagle defenders and nearly scoring from one such effort. But with nothing coming after repeated attacks, Waterhouse opted to go for goal when two penalty chances arose and these were sweetly converted by young Ward to give Kirk a healthy 13-5 lead at orange time.
Many a segment was still being chewed when the restart came, and it was Eagle who came out spitting the pips, as they assaulted the Kirk line, and but for some tough tackling and dropped last passes, Kirk could have paid dearly. With Eaves off with a knee injury it was left to Buxton to rally the troops, but when Eagle finally managed to score another un-converted try to make it 13-10, strong measures were needed. PK was sent to the changing rooms to get kitted up, and was soon on the field shouting the odds at Kirks beleaguered troops. It had the desired effect, as now the Barbarians were waxing lyrical and taking the game back to Eagle, and when the excellent Tom Sinclair scored his second try of the game, it seemed that would secure it for Kirk.
However, Eagle came back like a winter storm and managed their 3rd try of the match, which when converted cut Kirk’s lead to 1 point at 18-17! Fingernails were being chewed and voices were becoming hoarse as Eagle came again seeking the golden fleece of victory, but Matt’s Barbarians defended stoutly and kept them at bay until the final whistle brought joy to the Kirk battlers.
There was so much to take out of the game; Matt’s first game in charge was a blood-fire baptism, which will stand him in good stead for the rest of the season. Some of the rabbits he has pulled from the hat made good reading and even better watching, and hopefully they enjoyed themselves enough to come back after Christmas to the Kirk brotherhood. There were some great performances, notably Adam Bennett, Simon Eaves, Paul Mathers and Colin Sinclair, with great efforts from Ward, Waterhouse and Lyon, but man of the match had to be Sinclair junior, Tom. Distinguishable from his father by being fleeter of foot, (both wore identical scrum hats!), he was a constant thorn in the Eagle rump and but for some inconsiderate pot-holes in the mud, he probably would have scored more than two tries! Well done Tom, great effort.
Try scorers and penalty takers get points to win matches, but un-sung heroes are sometimes the ultimate difference in the end-game. The Barbarians sit proudly in 2nd place in the league after this win, but consider this: before kick-off there was no hooker available, this would have meant uncontested scrums and two points maximum. One phone call later, Lion favourite, Joe Kendrick decided he would step up and help out. In only his 2nd game at hooker, Joe not only ensured the Kirk machine started well, he kept going long into the game and only came off with 10 to go because I made him, then we the crowd witnessed him putting his shoulder back in against the handily placed wall before going off for a well earned dip in the bath! Sometimes you stand there speechless as you sink into the winter mud, quite humbling, thought provoking and testament to what being a clubman means. If my Spirit of Ormskirk award had been to hand, I would have passed it over there and then. Joe, I salute you.
Green Army!
Taffy
