On a day when it seemed like Spring was just around the corner, the under 14s welcomed their old friends, Leigh, from just down the East Lancs Road. With four players away on District ‘duty’ this was a chance for players to impress the coaches prior to the big Lancashire Plate semi-final against Rochdale next week. With Leigh having to compete with their rugby league neighbours for players they unfortunately arrived two players short and Luke Millington and Jay Owens sportingly volunteered to play for the opposition to ensure an even game went ahead.
Ormskirk kicked off the game in somewhat unusual warm sunshine and were soon on the attack. Unfortunately an early knock on saw Leigh clear their lines after a superb run by Luke Millington showed he wasn’t going to do Ormskirk any favours by going easy on them. The game soon entered a scrappy phase with neither team gaining the upper hand. The game however exploded into life after another Mazy run by full-back Adam Selfe was only brought to an end as he was bundled into touch by several Leigh players. Ormskirk unleashed another attack and prop Tom Travis drove over for what looked like a try only for the referee to be unsighted and erring on the side of the defence he awarded a five yard scrum. Ormskirk were soon back on the attack and Craig Ennis burst through some desperate tackles to set up John Woods for the first try of the game.From the kick off Leigh were keen to show they were no push overs and for a period of five minutes really pressed the ‘Kirk line.Fortunately scrum half Matty Jones put boot to ball and from the resulting play Craig Ennis burst through for try number two converted by Matty White. Ormskirk seemed to take control of the game and a good move in midfield saw Tom Anderson pick a superb line to ghost through the Leigh defence to go in under the sticks leaving Matty White with another easy conversion.’Kirk were soon back on the attack and a great run by Michael Quirk saw them gain over fifty yards in terms of territory before Leigh could haul him down.
Half-time:Leigh 0 Ormskirk 19 Â
For the second half Tom Anderson and Tom Travis graciously volunteered to play for Leigh and so give them another couple of experienced players. Leigh kicked off but were immediately penalised for men being in front of the kicker.The start of the half saw little pattern emerging other than knock-ons for both sides after securing possession. With the coaches constantly chopping and changing players it was good to see Kallen Hoy playing his first game in a while relinquishing his important normal duties as an assistant to the coaches. It has to be said that Leigh were playing well at this stage of the game and solid robust tackling were keeping Ormskirk at bay. Good driving runs by Danny Holloran and Harry James kept the Leigh defence busy as ‘Kirk looked to get back into the driving seat. Finally after alot of hard work the fourth try came. Jay Owens sprinted out of defence to set up a counter attack.The ball was moved down the line eventually finding Matty White who neatly kicked the ball along the ground for winger Jamie Griffiths to pick up and dive over for a really well taken try. Leigh then launched an audacious attack and when it looked like a try was a formality a brilliant tackle by Craig Ennis, showing why he is deservedly playing for Lancashire this year,saw the opposition bundled into touch just inches from the line. With the game nearing its completion a final ‘Kirk attack saw centre Pat Lloyd cap an impressive performance by picking a superb line and going in under the posts leaving Matty White with yet another easy kick at goal.
Full-time: Ormskirk 31  Leigh 0 Â
With another good team performance against a brave Leigh team who never gave up fighting it gives the Ormskirk coaches a mighty headache in picking a squad of 22 players for next weeks semi-final match. Finally a big thank-you to all the lads who volunteered to play for the opposition to ensure that a fair game went ahead.
