With Kirk’s third XV suffering nosebleeds after rising to fifth place in the table following last weeks win, it was time to strap on the oxygen tanks leave the ponies behind and make their way onwards and upwards.
The day was one that was full of expectation and a record number of away supporters were due, thanks to Critchley’s Bolton connections. Having to live up to such high expectations unfortunately adversely affected the sense of direction for 3 of ‘kirk’s men who were of course all travelling in the same car.
Bolton were out and ready to start, ‘kirk’s fourteen men were to be found somewhere between the stalls of the bathroom and the pitch. The referee insisted that the game start and kirk hastily shuffled the line up and away they went. From the kick off Bolton started the stronger and it was only the frenzied tackling of Hesketh, Waterhouse, Owens and Devine that kept them at bay. The pack disjointed to start began get themselves into the game with the front row of Blood, Povey and Roper imposing themselves in the first few set plays.
Kirk however could not get themselves out of their own 22, the players kept looking to the horizon, where were the reinforcements? Just then 3 green shirts became visible in the distance, yes Dopey, Sleepy and Bashful (Jackson, Thompson and McDermott to you and me) had arrived.
At the next breakdown the referee allowed Kirk time to adjust and on came the late arrivals. From this moment on Kirk were a dominant force, the pack (some say the envy of all other ‘kirk packs) were truly magnificent, Newton, Chapman, Hodkinson and Sinclair created a solid platform for Dolan at scrum half to orchestrate kirks attack.
After some calculated phases of play kirk got themselves within touching distance of the try line only to fall short on more than one occasion. The expectant crowd were needing something to cheer and with some hard running from Hesketh and newcomer Devine, Kirk eventually crossed the line to score.
With Kirk now on top they kept to same game plan, let the forwards do all the hard graft and ship the ball out to backs to claim all the glory. This they did well for the rest of the half which ended with kirk up 22 - 0 at the turnaround.
The second half saw Silcock, O’Farrell and Owens take to field. With kirk surely heading for their first away win of the season you could see them brimming with confidence. Critchley now on the touchline assured his supporters that things would get a lot more exciting now, however things didn’t.
There were flashes, Hesketh constantly selling dummies to the oppostion, trys for four of the pack, in fact another 37 points but it just wasn’t pretty. Kirks 37 points didn’t go unanswered and a well deserved try was scored by Bolton’s ever enthusiastic captain.
As the game came to a close and after what Ormskirk thought was their final try the referee informed Bolton that this kick off would be the final play. With everyone expecting kirk to receive the ball and just kick it into touch to end game, the Bolton captain duly kicked off. Jackson having already scored 3 trys had other ideas (he wants his leading try scorer trophy to stay put), as the ball bobbled in front of him he seized his opportunity and with a dazzling display that wouldn’t look out of place in the NFL, he ran straight back at Bolton dodging tackles here and there, running this way and that, and after making sure he had run past every one of the opposition at least once he casually wandered between the sticks and duly spiked the ball.
Final score 59 - 5 in Kirks favour. Trys for Jackson (4), Newton (2), Dolan, Povey, Chapman, Silcock and Critchley with Waterhouse converting 2.
