Fresh from 3 straight victories the under 12s came back to earth with a bump over the weekend losing 24 points to 14 against local rivals Leigh. If ever there was a game of two halves then this was it.
Ormskirk were forced into re-shuffle of their side due to the unavailability of several key players yet this was hardly noticeable as they tore into their opponents from the whistle. The pack were in excellent form as Marcus Rylance and Craig Ennis constantly caused problems for the Leigh team. It came as no surprise that Olly Hogan,playing in the centre today, made use of well won ball by the forwards to score two excellent individual tries, one converted by Michael Lea and one by Matt White to allow Ormskirk to go in 14 points to nil up at the break. However just before the half time whistle Ormskirk lost outstanding forward Marcus Rylance after a lazy swinging arm caught one of the Leigh players around the head, leaving referee Dave Jones little option than to sin bin him. With Ormskirk a player down this inspired Leigh who started the 2nd half with a lot more vigour and purpose.
Unfortunately bad luck struck again soon after the break when full back Matt White took a nasty bang to the head whilst preventing a try scoring opportunity in the corner. With play continuing and Ormskirk down to just 11 players it was inevitable that Leigh would score which they duly did. With Matt unable to continue a further re-shuffle was needed but Leigh again scored within a few minutes of the re-start as they made use of their numerical advantage. Leigh had now grown in confidence and were controlling the game. To make matters even worse Prop Tom Travis, who until this point had had an excellent game, too had to leave the field with a neck injury. Two further tries from Leigh eventually led to a final score of 24 points to 14 in their favour.
The coaches were all disappointed in the defeat as they all felt it was a game we could win, particularly after the first half display. However on a positive note the under 12’s are now competing against teams of Leigh’s standard which they could not do 12 months ago.
