Wigan 2nd XV v. Ormskirk 2nd XV – 13th January 2007
35 – 12
This week saw ‘kirk pack up their kit and head off up a hill in Wigan for their latest league away game. After trekking up what seemed to resemble a Himalayan mountain path, the convoy of Ormskirk players and supporters finally reached the Wigan RUFC club house; with Wigan being more commonly know for it’s rugby league pedigree (maybe not of late) Ormskirk’s second team set about warming up for a monster game. Ormskirk had a number of players call off sick only hours before kick off, which lead to the away party only containing 14 starting players with one racing to the away venue.
As the 2:15 kick off time approached Ormskirk were still only amounting to 14 men, with no sign of their missing stand off, the skipper Dawson made the call. Ormskirk would start the game with only 14 men, for the first ten minutes this mean that every single player on the away side had to dig deep and go that extra yard to make up for the additional player advantage that Wigan possessed. Both forwards and back could not be faulted on their efforts until a daft penalty gifted Wigan a three point lead. Ormskirk continued to fight back with great spirit and vigour, just missing an opportunity to bring things level with a goal attempt drifting inches wide of the upright. It was by this time that Armstrong, the missing player, had arrived, changed and was ready to even the numbers up, this meant that Ormskirk were now competing on the proverbial ‘even playing field’ especially when the backs looked so devastating with ball in hand, running hard, fast lines especially Wroe, Keech and Spence. However it would be the forwards who crossed the line first with a huge offensive on Wigan’s try line, both forwards and back worked together looking for the elusive try; eventually resulting in Rowley the powerful loose head prop muscling over the whitewash for five points, the conversion was put just wide. It wasn’t until Ormskirk were given a penalty just off the half way line that they looked like scoring again. Armstrong kicked for touch, gaining valuable yards inside Wigan’s twenty two yard line. Ormskirk’s pack won the line out and set up the powerful maul, after overwhelming the opposition forwards the maul forced its was over the line for ‘kirk’s’ second try, again grounded by the prop Rowley; the conversion was slotted over for a further two points.
It did not appear to be Ormskirk’s day, and when a number of missed tackles resulted in an easy try for Wigan things began to go wrong, meaning ‘The Raiders’ let their heads drop and then allowing Wigan to run in a number of additional tries. On the day the result was a fair one, favouring the side that made the most of their chances. However this is not to say that Ormskirk were well beaten, in fact it was Ormskirk who lost the game for themselves, through a lack of on going commitment.
