We travelled to our local derby rivals Tarleton who had previously been our benchmark in terms of where we want to be. On arrival however, it became evident that Tarleton were short of three players to make a game of it.
The match kicked off and the stage was set with ‘Kirk taking control of the game with the usual strong loose play from the forwards with good driving being shown by Tom Travis and Aaron Waggoner in the rucks and mauls . This allowed the ball to be spun out to the backs where we quickly struck with a good move from Robbie Jones at fly half scoring the first try with Mike Lea scoring the conversion. The midweek training showed good signs of working, with Craig Ennis running in consecutive tries from 2 similar, ‘pick up and drives’ from the back of the ruck. Both kicks were converted by the trusty boot of Mike Lea. It was Mike’s turn next from a good passing move down the line and his determined run from the midfield led to his second try of the season. Following pressure from Ormskirk in the Tarleton 22 mtr. area , they attempted to clear, kicking the ball high but under the safe hands of Kallen Hoy who caught well, drove forward and provided the base for Craig Ennis to score his third try of the day. On this occasion Matt Jones was un-phased with the conversion responsibilities.
We had a swap round at half-time and the game kicked off again with Ormskirk applying the pressure, Tarleton however were able to summon a stronger performance and held their defences. Soon the Tarleton defence buckled again as the ball was whizzed out and good handling from Jamie(Jim) Griffiths set the ball up for Tom Povey who showed the Tarleton defence a clean pair of heels to score in the corner. Craig Ennis was now showing his versatility on the wing and was able to convert another quality backs move into his fourth try of the day (well done). Mike Quirk struck a good conversion. The try tally was completed by Marcus Rylance who having put in another solid performance drove through the defence. On this occasion Tom Povey was a match for his peers and slotted over the conversion.
This performance is another demonstration of how the boys and their team play has improved. Well done and keep trying, the rest will fall into place.
Tarleton 0Â Ormskirk 54
