Ormskirk 2nd XV 12 – Waterloo 3rd XV 38
27th January 2007
It was never going to be an easy game for ‘The Raiders’ against in-form arch-rivals Waterloo. Having been give a lesson in rugby on the away leg of this fixture before Christmas, ‘The Gingerbread Men’ knew they were in for a tough battle. There was, however, a glimmer of hope with the knowledge of a very one-sided pre-season ‘friendly’ in Ormskirk’s favour. With skipper Ged Dawson bolstering his squad with ‘Big’ Val Gately, the return of Neil Buxton and the experienced head of Russ Brennan standing in at scrum half Ormskirk started the game in a positive frame of mind.
From the kick-off Ormskirk started well, taking the game to the away team. It looked for some time that the difference between the two teams was going to be the power of the forwards. Being a forward normally isn’t a glamorous role, except for the odd flash open-side, and this game proved no different. The forwards rumbled the ball forward the runs of nine and ten, ‘pick and goes’ and the rolling maul proving very difficult for Waterloo to deal with, affording Ormskirk great gains in yards. Although first blood went to the away team, Ormskirk looked like they were in the driving seat, having about seventy percent possession of the ball and crossing the line twice only for the referee to be in a position that he could not see if the ball had been grounded. Ormskirk kept fighting in the up front and in the scrums, looking like they could win the game if only convert their hard work into points. They couldn’t and the game looked lost early on in the second half with Waterloo exploiting poor tackling and holes in the defensive line; however Ormskirk didn’t totally give up and kept on fighting throughout a tough afternoon at Green Lane.
If this were a school report the it would say that Ormskirk possess the ability to do better at this level and at times, when concentrating, show what they can really achieve. In summary, must try harder!
