First XV: Wirral 27 Ormskirk 9
Ormskirk travelled to Wirral and should have come away with the 2 points. In the 1st half Kirk produced some excellent rugby. Their defence was outstanding, and the Kirk back row turned over plenty of ball. Matt Johnson made some strong runs and there were some bone crunching tackles made all over the park.
Wirral gave away far too many penalties, John Armstrong was accurate with his kicking, which shocked the home team and Ormskirk were looking strong at half time with a 9-0 lead. Then the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half were disastrous. Basic errors by the kirk back 3 led to 2 sloppy tries, and Wirral were back in it at 12-9. The next 30 minutes Kirk were outplayed by Wirral. They were a well organised team, and used the strong wind to their advantage. Another well worked try gave them a 19-9 lead. Ormskirk refused to lie down and they took the game into Wirral’s 22, but their defence stood strong. From 30 metres out they scored a drop goal. A late try made the final score 27-9.
Man of the match went to Andy Wilson. Kirk need to play the full 80 minutes and cut out the basic errors. On the positive side they showed from their 1st half performance that they can definitely compete in this league and can expect to turn over a few teams. They welcome Wigan to Green Lane this week for a 3pm kick off. There have been some very good battles between these 2 sides over the years and Wigan will be eager to get the first win after 3 losses in the league. For Kirk, they need to stick to the game plan and be more patient, not rushing and not forcing the errors.
The 2nds recorded a good 32-12 victory at home to Warrington. Tries from Bowling, Dawson, Keech, Skett and the Montrose. Whalley kicked one penalty and 2 conversions.
The 3rds lost at home against Hutton 1st/2nds 25-3. Alex Lambie kicking the only points. The 4ths travelled to Vale of Lune and got beat 39-7, Justin Lyon scoring the only try goaled by Veteran Russ Brennan who was ‘Guesting’ in a rare appearance.
