After the euphoria of last weekend’s historic Lancashire Plate win it was back to earth this week for the visit of our new friends from Cheshire, Sandbach R.U.F.C.. This game replaced the original game against Blackburn and would certainly test the lads as we already knew of the quality of the Sandbach team from earlier in the season. To compound matters the coaches were without seven of last week’s victorious team but this gave other players knocking on the door for selection a good chance to show what they could do.
Ormskirk started the game extremely well with some strong early tackling.It was an early upset when, after an excellent tackle, James Woods suffered an arm injury although fortunately no permanent damage was done and he returned later in the game. ’Kirk at this point were controlling the game well and put some early pressure on the Sandbach defensive line. Sandbach however won some good ball and only an excellent cover tackle by Craig Ennis prevented a potential try scoring breakaway. The game seemed well poised in midfield when brave work by Olly Hogan on the floor saw him secure the ball and off-load to Tom Povey who sliced through the Sandbach defence and go half the length of the field and go in at the corner.
This semed to spur Ormskirk on and only committed tackling by Sandbach kept them at bay, in particular Tom Anderson with two fine,determined runs. Sandbach however kept coming forward and only another top drawer tackle by Craig Ennis saved the day and then cleared up well by Tom Povey and a great kick to touch eased the pressure.
Just as ‘Kirk were controlling the game the injury curse struck again with stand in fly-half Matt White suffering blurred vision in one eye after an accidental kick to the head.Unfortunately in this case the sensible precaution was taken not to bring him back on again. As the half time whistle blew the coaches were highly delighted with the effort put in by the lads and again showed the strength in depth that we now have within the squad.
Half-time: Ormskirk 5   Sandbach 0Â
The start of the second half saw a see-saw game.Both sides were keen to run the ball and this was matched by some excellent tackling. Sandbach however seemed to sense the wind behind them and threw everything at the ‘Kirk line only for them to be held up after they had crossed the line. From the resulting scrum even though the ball was won by ’Kirk an unfortunate ricochet saw the ball go forward and it was an easy pick up for Sandbach to dive over and score. Before ‘Kirk had time to draw breath Sandbach caught them napping from the kick-off and they moved the ball out wide to go in for their second try.
Ormskirk were not downhearted and a couple of good runs by Michael Quirk and Arron Waggoner showed that by no means had they given up and still sensed they could get something from the game. Just then more disaster struck with stand in,stand in fly -half Tom Povey having to leave the field after getting a nasty kick in the back after he had bravely gone down to win the ball on the floor.By this time Ormskirk had unfortunately run out of backs and alternatives and it left the team out of shape and without someone with the experience to play in what is a very influential role.Sandbach therefore ended the game in control and scored a couple of late tries to secure a hard fought  victory.
Final Score: Ormskirk 5  Sandbach 22
Far from being despondant at the end of the game the coaches were in an excellent mood. Without seven regulars and then losing two key players, yet still pushing a side like Sandbach shows the strength in depth within the squad.Next season there will be a battle royal for starting places in matches and no one can rest on their laurels thinking their place is assured. In a nice touch after the game team manager Nik James presented Michael Quirk with his deserved Lancashire Plate medal after his unfortunate absence from last weeks final due to school trip, a match where he would have been picked for the final squad. Next week promises to be yet another tough game against Lancashire Cup finalists West Park and a good opportunity to pitch ourselves against one of the best teams in the county
