Last weekend saw the under 13s play Collegiate at home as the sole guests of ORUFC mini/junior section. As an added bonus the lads played on the bigger 1st team pitch although there was some disappointment that the opposition turned up 3 players short so we had to ‘loan’ players to ensure a full 15 a side match took place.
The game kicked off with Collegiate demonstrating their intentions to graft from the outset. This was assisted by ‘Kirk who took their time to come up to speed and stamp any authority on the match. A disallowed home try seemed to be the required inspiration and wake-up call for the lads who then proceeded to take the game by the scruff of the neck and score three quick tries.The first was by Olly Hogan,the second, after a lovely flowing move down the back line, by James Owens scoring his first of what will hopefully be many tries for the club and the third by powerhouse winger Tom Anderson.
Half-time:  Ormskirk  17   Collegiate  0
Following another re-shuffle with the sizeable squad,the second half kicked off with Ormskirk again making unnecessary mistakes. However,it was not long before the lads had warmed up again and again were in the ascendancy.It was pleasing to see set moves practised in training bearing fruit as both Olly Hogan and Tom Anderson went in for scores.The remaining tries were scored by Olly rounding off a well deserved hat-trick, and the first try for two seasons for the hard working Mike Quirk who aggressively drove over following a strong drive by the pack. Collegiate did not give up and following a quick penalty ran through a sleeping defence to earn themselves five points. Graham Bishop rounded off the performance kicking well throughout and converting three of the seven tries.
Full-time: Ormskirk 42   Collegiate 5
The coaches wish to place on record their thanks to the six players who willingly played against their own team,they all worked hard and should be recognised. This was a good opportunity for the less experienced players to step up to the mark and they did. As usual this now gives the coaches a selection headache before next weekend’s plate quarter final clash against Leigh.
