Vale of Lune 3rds 13 V. Ormskirk 2nds 0
3rd February 2007
It was always going to be a difficult game as Ormskirk headed off up Lancashire to the Lune valley, where they would face a team whose club boast the biggest pitch in England. On a foggy Saturday afternoon in February, with a very heavy pitch under foot, Ormskirk looked to play better than when these two teams last met in the cup a few months ago. Unfortunately, this was not to be the day on which Ormskirk righted past wrongs. A number of 1st team injuries left the second team looking a little depleted - luckily there were a number of quality replacements waiting in the wings to support the usual faces; not least of these was a Hungarian international centre making his debut for Ormskirk. Not even this foreign import was going to sprinkle ‘the Raiders’ with magic. Instead the team allowed themselves to be sucked into petty, schoolgirl squabbles and playing a poor standard of rugby more akin to their home team opponents.
At times both forwards and backs looked sluggish and even lazy, although the Ormskirk scrum was as usual, super strong winning ball and wheeling their lesser opponents. At times the backs look promising and it was thought that they could do some real damage if given cleaner, quicker ball. Not to do them an injustice, it was not really a backs game, in was a very heavy pitch and the home team did not use their backs very often so it was a case as the backs having to do what they could, where they could. Ormskirk’s only real scoring opportunity, a penalty in front of the sticks, went just wide of the upright to sum up the whole day for Ormskirk. In a game of penalties, ‘fat lad rugby’ and cards, Ormskirk never really look like they were going to win, even at this very low standard of rugby. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come and Ormskirk will get back to their better winning ways, with some must win games coming up - but will they take advantage of a week off league rugby to regroup?
