6th January 2007
Burnley 2nd XV 17 Ormskirk 2nd XV 50
Looking a little festively plump after too many mince pies these two teams met high up in the hills of Burnley for the first league fixture of the season following the Christmas and New Year break. Ormskirk went into the game with a recent run of good form behind them, the victory over Rossendale just before Christmas and a strong team that look like they would continue their good form. However a cruel blow was dealt Ormskirk’s way when the skipper and powerful Number 8, Dawson, damaged his hand early in the week at training, fortunately a worthy replacement was found in the form of Jackson.
From the beginning of this encounter it was evident that this was going to be a physical, torrid affair with no quarter asked or given. The new RFU law change had little effect on the two warring packs fighting up front. In the scrums both teams look solid but it was the Burnley pack that seemed to be able to flex their muscles first, with a few scrum taken against the head. Ormskirk’s normally solid front row regrouped and came back fight with pressure that saw the key veteran prop for the home team having to be replaced. With the ‘Kirk’ pack playing good rugby and recycling numerous phases of attack ball, the back proved why a rugby team needs seven skinny pretty boys as well as eight fat lads. It was the ‘team tart’ Wroe who proved his rugby prowess with a score tally that totalled four glorious fasted paced tries; all of which totally bemused the flat footed defence.
Some magnificent lineout work from Dean, Crosse and Mahood gave the forwards the opportunity to make some yards for themselves through their growingly successful rolling maul. These yards allowed the backs to capitalise once more and the home side could only watch as Mahood scored twice, Jackson powered his way over the line and even Armstrong was able to prove that that there was still fight in the old dog by dancing his way to a further five points. The stand-in skipper, Keech, kicked five out of his eight opportunities to supplement ‘Kirk’s’ already exorbitant total.
However, it wasn’t all one way traffic and to their credit the ‘Burnley boys’ didn’t just hang their heads as Ormskirk ran in their plethora of tries. They continued to attack the Ormskirk try line and were successful a few times however two of their three ties came from mistakes made by the away side rather than from skill. Never-the-less points are still points and it meant that the game was not a complete white wash.
In conclusion this fixture was closely fought contest that saw Ormskirk the clear victors through a combination of hard work, skill and sheer pace. Ormskirk will be looking to their game next week against an experienced Wigan side to extend their recent run of form.
