The under 13s travelled to Manchester Rugby Club confident that if they gave their best then they could win their Plate final. After looking at recent Rochdale results the general feeling was that they would be a hard team to beat and only a committed performance by all the players would land them the trophy.
Even though there were concerns over the weather, after some unseasonal snow the night before, the team arrived to see some Manchester sunshine and a more than playable pitch. Unfortunately Ormskirk’s coaches were forced into a an unplanned change even before the kick-off with full-back Matt White feeling the effects of an injury picked up earlier in the week and the decision was made to play Graham Bishop from the start.
From the kick-off Ormskirk looked in the right mood for the battle with some excellent early tackles and pushing the Rochdale team back deep into their own half. It was only a matter of time before Ormskirk put points on the board. The forwards won some quality possession on the Rochdale ‘22′ and the ball was moved along the line to fly-half Robbie Jones who cleverly cut inside his man before off-loading to Olly Hogan who burst through to go in under the sticks. From the kick-off ‘Kirk again drove forward and once again piled the pressure on the Rochdale team. Only committed defence kept the wave after wave of Ormskirk attacks at bay. Eventually, however, the pressure told with the ball being moved wide after a well controlled ruck, for scrum-half Matty Jones to go in at the corner.
There was to be no let up from the kick-off as Harry James put his head down and broke through the ‘Dale defence before desperate tackling brought him down. With the fearsome front row of Travis, Jones and Waggoner in charge it was not long before a well won scrum saw the ball spun out wide to Olly Hogan for him to go in for his second and then well converted by Graham Bishop. Even then Ormskirk were not finished, a great run by Tom Povey followed by a neat kick to touch once again saw Rochdale defending their line in numbers. When the whistle went for the break it was with a mighty sigh of relief from the Rochdale team. Ormskirk had completely dominated the half so much so that ‘Dale had probably spent only a couple of minutes in Ormskirk territory for the whole half.
Half-time: Ormskirk 17   Rochdale 0
Being in control the coaches were more than happy to make changes both in personnel and positionally knowing that with strength in depth in all positions the side would not be weakened.At the start of the second period Rochdale came back into the game a little but any attacking move was well snuffed out by some ferocious Ormskirk tackling. It was not long before ‘Kirk were back in attacking mode and another good run by Olly Hogan caused panic in the Rochdale half before he was finally brought to ground. Ormskirk again attacked the opposition line only to be met by some excellent rearguard tackling.
Finally Rochdale could hold out no longer and from an attacking scrum, flanker Kyle Hoy capped another excellent performance by diving over for Ormskirk’s fourth try. Again from the kick off Ormskirk again drove forward and from yet another attacking scrum Craig Ennis picked the ball up and bulldozed his way over,converted then by Matt White. With the game well won Rochdale took advantage by scoring a late consolation try by forward Chris Binns, a just reward for never once giving up the fight
Full-time: Ormskirk 29   Rochdale 5
A well deserved success for the Under 13s and a great cheer for captain Tom Povey, from a large crowd, as he lifted the trophy. This victory has not been about luck but a culmination of a lot of hard work by both the players (including all the lads not picked for today’s final) and especially the coaches,Nik James, Dave Jones, Pete Jones, Andy Povey and Ean Quirk who week in and week out give of their time and expertise in sometimes very difficult conditions.This side can only get better and already everyone is setting their sights on next season and the challenges ahead. Well done everyone!
