After last week’s cancelled game at Sedgley Park and no training for two weeks the under 13s were keen for their fixture at Waterloo to go ahead. Fortunately the Waterloo pitches were in excellent condition with no mud or standing water to be seen. The team were eager for some match practice to prepare for next weeks Lancashire Cup fixture and several players were looking to put in a big performance to catch the coaches eye and a place in next week’s squad. Having struggled to win a Lancashire Cup fixture here earlier in the season a close contest was envisaged.
Ormskirk were quick out of the blocks and soon won an attacking scrum after an excellent kick off from Robbie Jones. A great drive by the ‘Kirk pack saw the ball whipped down the backs for winger Tom Anderson to go in at the corner. Graham Bishop then brilliantly converted from out wide to start the game off on the right foot. Waterloo briefly rallied but good Ormskirk tackling ensured that any danger was quickly snuffed out. With the Ormskirk forwards on top it was no surprise when Craig Ennis picked the ball up at the base of a scrum and drove through the Waterloo defence to score. A few minutes later Craig scored another almost identical try to put ‘Kirk seventeen points up. It was not long before another excellent move by the backs saw the ball find its way to winger Tom Anderson for him to score his second try of the day. To their credit Waterloo were not prepared to just sit back and a good move just before the break saw them score a try in the corner after some excellent back up play.
Half-time: Waterloo 5  Ormskirk 22
With a squad of 24 players for the match the half-time break allowed the coaches to make wholesale changes both in personnel and also positionally for the second period. With so many changes ‘Kirk lost their way a little and had to endure a lengthy period of Waterloo pressure. A couple of promising Waterloo moves were snuffed out by some grat last ditch tackling on the line and then to rub salt in the wound Ormskirk again worked the ball out to on fire winger Tom Anderson to run half the length of the pitch to score his third try of the game. Finally to cap an excellent day’s work Tom recorded his fourth try after picking up an excellent cross field kick by Robbie Jones and again going in at the corner. With the game well and truly won Ormskirk took the foot off the gas to allow two late Waterloo tries to bring a little respectability to the final score.
Full Time: Waterloo 15   Ormskirk 32
An excellent all round team performance and well done to Tom Anderson’s four try haul, a great achievement for someone still so new to the game. Another player worth mentioning is Kyle Hoy who today was heavily involved in a lot of the unglamorous but vital work of tackling and winning good ball for the backs to work with. The team are now in a positive frame of mind for next weeks big cup match against Bolton at Green Lane.
